Missouri's transportation funding dilemma is reminiscent of an old Dennis the Menace cartoon.
In the cartoon panel, during an obviously unsuccessful attempt to sell lemonade for $5 a glass, Dennis reassures partner Joey: "Well, we only have to sell ONE glass!"
Proponents of additional transportation funding only needed to sell voters one ballot issue - specifically a 10-year, three-quarter-cent sales tax expected to generate $5.4 billion. The proposal, Amendment 7 on the August 2014 ballot, was rejected.
In the aftermath of its defeat, the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) unveiled a scaled back plan focused largely on maintenance. The agency also has projected that by 2017, annual revenues of $325 million will not meet the $483 million need each year just to maintain the 34,000 miles of state-owned highways.
The troubling trifecta includes: no funding for new projects, inadequate money to maintain existing infrastructure, and diminished ability to obtain federal matching funds.
Some opponents of Amendment 7's broad sales tax prefer an increased fuel tax directed at highway users, including commercial truckers. Boosting their argument is the existing tax of 17 cents a gallon is among the nation's lowest and has not been raised in nearly 20 years. In addition, because gasoline costs have dropped from record highs, a modest tax increase would be less onerous to Missouri motorists.
A fuel tax hike for transportation sponsored by state Sen. Doug Libla, R-Poplar Bluff, is among proposals being considered by lawmakers this session.
Libla's initial, incremental fuel tax totaling 6 cents - 2 cents a year for three years - has been abandoned because of constitutional concerns.
Its replacement now being considered is a 2-cent hike in the fuel tax, which would not require a statewide vote. The increase would generate an additional $55 million, which would allow the state to match all of its expected federal funding in 2017, but not in subsequent years.
In a perspective titled "Small ball wins games," published on the April 20 Opinion page, Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission Chairman Steven R. Miller: "But the reality is, there is no opportunity for the home run; a public vote is not possible this time around and constitutional amendments from decades ago limit how much the General Assembly can raise revenue in a single year. That is no reason, however, not to stand in the box and work to get around the bases any way we can. Sen. Libla's bill provides that opportunity. It allows us to get to first base. From there we can look for other opportunities to advance."
We agree.
As the Dennis the Menace cartoon illustrates, expecting a singular solution is unwise and unproductive.
Opposing all taxation and allowing continued deterioration of the state's highways and bridges is similarly unwise.
Let's put our 2 cents in and begin momentum toward an incremental solution.