Highway Funding, is it a Critical Issue?

You be the judge... Current funding for 2010 for Idaho's Roads:



$508 Million (2009 spending authorization for 2009 was $492 million)
$297 million in unspent money from the Connecting Idaho Fund
$191 million in Federal "stimulus" money
$82 million additional bonding authority for GARVEE
$36 million in GARVEE cost savings from 2009
$18 million in additional funding through the elimination of the ethanol gas exemption
$17 million in discretionary "stimulus" funding

$1.250 Billion available to Idaho road managers in 2010 (almost twice what it had in 2009) for road projects and preservation and maintenance.

The budget provided to the House for ITD has road project funding that was twice that of preservation and maintenance, a 2:1 ratio of building over preserving.

Every penny of increase fuel taxes gains ~$4.4 million to the Highway Distribution Account (HDA), so the recent 6 cent increase amended by the Senate on the House bill to eliminate the ethanol exemption would have added an additional $26.4 million. The House voted down this amendment for a multitude of reasons, but mostly because we are in an economy where adding tax burdens on our citizens was just not appropriate.

While it appears we are more than flush with funding for ITD for the current budget year under consideration, it just would not be prudent to increase taxes on citizens already being taxed at a rate of being the 13th highest in the nation per capita.

We are already putting our tax Dollars in the state's "bank", they just aren't going to the correct accounts.

The state and local road managers have in excess of $300 million more than last year to address the state's transportation needs as outlined by the governor. The "stimulus funds" can also be used for preservation and maintenance, yet none of those funds were dedicated to that effort... why? Idahoans will see a record number of highway projects undertaken this year and into the next to address road maintenance and preservation needs, bridge repair and replacement as well as interstate congestion. Anyone indicating that the House has "done nothing to improve the current conditions" is just dead wrong.

Do we have a funding crisis for Idaho roads for 2010? You be the judge... let me know your thoughts.


Cheers,
Marv