Friday, January 23, 2015

Georgia Transportation Funding 2016

We need a less dysfunctional system for funding road and bridge maintenance.   What were once “use taxes” have been turned into “slush funds”.  They should not be used for trains and airplanes. Public transit should fund itself on a local “break even” basis.  Ideally all passenger train and bus service should be private.  Some state funds need to go to freight train track and harbor expansion, but carriers should fund their own facilities.  Counties and cities who want airports and train hubs should budget for these.    
Federal gasoline taxes need to be taken over by the States as proposed in the US House Transportation Empowerment Bill.  The 18.4 cents a gallon federal gasoline tax would simply be added to state gasoline taxes.
All fees and taxes associated with road and bridge use should be spent on road and bridge maintenance.  This would include county ad valorem taxes, license fees and gasoline taxes.
Atlanta, including DeKalb and Fulton continues to be a residential city dotted with business districts connected by highways and boulevards.  The MARTA passenger train was added in the 1960s and Malls were added to these business districts since the 1970s.   Suburban counties were developed along the same general lines. 
The US was developed for automobiles, where you could live anywhere and work anywhere.  Housing continues to be cheaper as you move away from the large cities.  Manufacturing plants preferred to locate and remain in rural counties and was a blessing for these agricultural areas.  Europe was dotted with “hamlets” and is now connected by passenger rail and highways and uses a “transit village” model.  
Don’t believe the “Transit” hype
Passenger Trains are too expensive to build, maintain and operate.  It costs $billion.  Raising taxes to expand passenger trains and public bus service is unwise.  If large companies want to move to Atlanta and they want transit, they will have to locate their offices at the MARTA stops.  Most companies will continue to locate their operations in the suburbs and exurbs. 
MARTA train users will spend $1250 a year to commute to and from work 250 days a year. Those who work in downtown Atlanta near a MARTA stop will continue to ride MARTA.   Those who live near a MARTA stop and work near a MARTA stop can continue to ride MARTA. Everyone else will use a car. This includes those who have to pick up kids or just want the flexibility of using a car.
Atlanta Driving
Atlanta failed to keep pace with its population growth.  All roads lead to I-285 and that is the source of the gridlock.  We will need to spend our tax dollars carefully.
Wasting Money
Transportation dollars should not be used for economic development, parks, green space, streetscapes, trails, street lights, bike lanes, art work, debt service or public transit. Cities and counties should fund these sparingly until the roads are fixed.
Revenue
Tax receipts that should be used for roads and bridges includes county motor vehicle license fees and should be used by the counties who collect them.  2016 budget numbers include $347 million state-side. The state ad valorem tax is $805 million and the state gasoline tax receipts total $998 million.  Federal revenue is projected to be 1.7 billion.
State gasoline taxes are 26.5 cents per gallon and Federal gasoline taxes are 18.4 cents a gallon.  Combined, they total 44.9 cents a gallon.  If we still buy 3 billion gallons a year in Georgia, our total gasoline tax revenue should be $1.35 billion a year. If we add the $805 million ad valorem tax we would have $2.2 billion to use for roads and bridges
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuel_taxes_in_the_United_States
We need a Plan
If the Georgia Legislature sees fit to return to the “use tax” model, we would need to see the list of priority projects we can fund for $2.2 billion a year.  We also expect GDOT to get real and reduce the costs per mile to generic cost standards.  We see no value in population projections, multiple designs and other unnecessary studies.  We also need freedom from wasteful federal regulations.
Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader

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