Lawmakers committing highway robbery
The following is a Counterpoint:
By John Beaman
I enjoyed Andrew Brod's column (Ideas, Aug. 26). I, too, wonder about that Yadkin River bridge every time I go over it.
Brod hit a lot of good points, but one he did not hit is the way our legislature is dealing with the issue. Ever since Hurricane Floyd, they have been robbing the state's Highway Trust Fund (from gasoline taxes) to balance their budgets. The budget just passed took $172 million from the fund. According to Brod's statistics, that money would allow all the bridges in North Carolina to be repaired. I understand why this might have been used as a temporary expedient to find funds to repair the damage from Floyd, but that was a long time ago. I can imagine what the nine-year total must be.
Why do they do this? I asked my senator, Kay Hagan, and she replied because increasing taxes enough to avoid raiding the Highway Fund would not be popular in, or pass the legislature.
I can understand that, but sometimes it is necessary to bite the bullet and do the right thing. Our legislature did this in spite of starting the budget work with a $2.2 billion surplus. Why not spend that $172 million from the surplus on roads and bridges instead of other things? Yes, there are tough choices, but I wonder what the legislature's reaction will be when that Yadkin River bridge falls? I realize, politically, that “doing the right thing” is an oxymoron, but if we are ever to get our roads repaired and new ones added, they must leave the fund alone.
A lot of people in this state worked hard to get FedEx and Dell here in the Triad. I am sure those two giants were depending on our road system to be ready when they were. However, completion of our Greensboro beltway has been postponed for at least 10 years instead of being ready in 2010 like it was originally. That sort of delay, for basically political reasons, will not play well the next time we try to lure a large industry.
Until there is public pressure to stop robbing the Trust Fund, it will go on and on. It's too easy to do to avoid doing something unpopular. Speak out to your legislators.
The writer lives in Greensboro.
Comments (3)
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. would be nice if monies raised for a specific purpose .. like fixing the roads .. were used for that specific purpose .. like fixing the roads.
Posted on September 1, 2007 5:58 AM
yes it would be nice if monies raised for the roads would go to the roads instead of lining someone's pockets, which is happening...The NCDOT "cleaned house" several years ago...they just didn't get it all.
Posted on September 1, 2007 8:37 AM
You think that people like Kay Hagan can ever imagine finding other ways to balance the budget other than raising taxes? Like maybe reducing expenditures?
We do have a nice Teapot Museum, though, courtesy of the road fund. So, the road fund has been raided for other projects, not just to balance the budget. I think that the total is something like $1 billion. That's why North Carolina has the highest state gas tax in the Southeast. The next thing you will see is the legislature raising the state tax further to pay for bridge repair. How can anyone oppose? This is one of the most taxed states in the Southeast already.
Posted on September 1, 2007 8:51 AM