Here's Pennsylvania Agony(excerpts):The extreme co...

tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10010207.post-57102296753160710952008-03-24T20:02:00.000-05:002008-03-24T20:02:00.000-05:002008-03-24T20:02:00.000-05:00Here's Pennsylvania Agony(excerpts):The extreme co...Here's Pennsylvania Agony(excerpts): The extreme cost of fixing bridges and highways So how much would you pay to get out of that traffic jam under I-95? And what's your preferred form of payment? Gas tax? Tolls? Sales tax? Income tax? Pennsylvania has spent $3.8 billion since 2003 to repair 1,381 bridges, yet the number of structurally deficient bridges increased - from 5,600 to 6,000. Even with one of the highest gas taxes in the nation - and with a newly enacted plan to impose tolls on I-80 - Pennsylvania can't keep up. The picture is similarly grim around the nation. States are grappling with a 50-year-old interstate highway system that cost much less to build than it does to maintain. Federal and state gas taxes no longer cover the bill. Pennsylvania's Department of Transportation estimated last year that it would take $11 billion to fix all 6,000 structurally deficient bridges. That would represent nearly 40 percent of the state's budget. Ultimately, that money will come from motorists or taxpayers, or both. - but eventually the money comes from two sources: user fees and taxes. In New Jersey, where the state's transportation fund is nearly tapped out, Gov. Corzine wants to raise highway tolls by more than 50 percent every four years until 2022 to fund transportation projects and to pay down state debt. To those who object to such big hikes - and polls indicate that's most New Jersey residents - Corzine says, pick your poison. The alternatives to those toll increases, Corzine says, would be a 20 percent rise in income taxes, a 2-cent hike in the current 7-cent sales tax, or a 50-cent raise in the gas tax. In Pennsylvania, a Transportation Funding and Reform Commission appointed by Rendell concluded in late 2006 that it would take a 12.5-cents-per-gallon increase in taxes to raise $965 million a year for roads and bridges. That would give Pennsylvania the nation's highest gas taxes - 63.2 cents a gallon, including federal taxes - A national commission established to examine transportation needs recommended in January that the federal gas tax, currently 18.4 cents per gallon, be raised by as much as 40 cents over the next five years. It also called for higher state gas taxes, for increased use of tolls, and for peak-hour "congestion pricing" on highways, which would mean higher tolls during the busiest periods. There has been little enthusiasm in state capitals or in Washington for upping gas taxes, especially as motorists are already facing much higher prices at the pump because of rising oil costs. http://www.philly.com/philly/news/homepage/16932121.html The point of posting these articles from different states is to reinforce the reality that this is not just a Virginia issue and yes... the GA's in the other states look just as feckless as our guys.Larry Grosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02282254026681944326noreply@blogger.com