THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, March 30, 1996 TAG: 9603300006
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A10 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Medium: 79 lines
Proposing an increase in the state motor-fuel tax would be suicidal for any Virginia politician. Anti-tax sentiment is high. Besides, many Virginians seemingly cling to the fantasy that lottery proceeds or a strong economic boom (not in prospect) will generate sufficient revenue to fund whatever capital projects and public services are needed to further the commonwealth's prosperity. Raise taxes? Forget it.
Some Virginians are so detached from reality that they bought Republican candidates' promises in the General Assembly races last November to scrap the unpopular Business, Professional and Occupational License tax (on gross receipts), which financially stressed local governments count on; return lottery revenue to localities, which would have deprived state government of hundreds of millions of dollars annually in sorely needed revenue; and enlarge the exemption for dependents in the state tax code.
Asked how the state government and local governments could make up for lost revenue, GOP candidates replied, ``From tax revenue generated by economic growth'' - which is equivalent to saying, ``Something will turn up.'' Just how reckless the GOP promises were was confirmed when Gov. George F. Allen proposed his $35 billion state budget for the next two years. Both his budget and the reworked version of it that the legislature approved ate up all foreseeable revenue from existing sources.
It's human nature to postpone coming to grips with unpleasant facts, but temporizing can make for bad public policy. Refusing to raise motor-fuel taxes while (1) road construction and maintenance costs climb, (2) peak-hour traffic on major arteries in urban areas moves slower and slower and (3) crossings, expressways and secondary roads crumble is destined to backfire. Increasing the state motor-fuel tax by a penny a gallon every six months for, say, at least 10 years would be a comparatively painless way to enlarge the pool of funds for transportation and give Virginia a fighting chance to keep traffic rolling smoothly. The price of gasoline at the pump has bobbed up several pennies in recent weeks, and the world hasn't come to an end.
There's no escaping hard truths: The piper must always be paid, one way or another. If roads fall apart and sluggish peak-hour traffic becomes the norm, motorists - which is most of us - pay in wear and tear on human and machine. When traffic pain becomes acute, cries for relief compel political representatives to act. By then the need is for substantial increases in the motor-fuel tax or other user-related levies, such as license fees and titling and sales taxes.
Hampton Roads lacks the roads and - dare we point out? - bus and rail infrastructure required to foster continued prosperity So do Virginia's other urban areas. Commuters in Northern Virginia crawl between home and workplace at an average speed less than 10 miles per hours. Rush-hour commuting and holiday-weekend travel usually isn't that slow in Hampton Roads, but the region is rolling in that direction.
In 1989, the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission reports, the region could expect to receive over the next 20 years 50 percent of the billions of dollars needed to handle its traffic. Now the best the region can expect is 38 percent of the $9 billion it would cost to provide adequately for transportation needs. The shortfall in projected road-construction funds for the state as a whole is of similar magnitude.
The federal tax on gasoline is 14 cents per gallon. The state tax is 17.5 cents. Virginia would have to raise the state tax by 32 cents - to 49.5 cents - to pay for all identified road-construction needs through the year 2015.
Gasoline is cheap in the United States. Were we to pay as much as Europeans pay for gas, we could build a transportation system - roads, trains, trolleys, buses - that would be an economic boon and the envy of the world.
That won't happen. And when Virginia is finally forced to face up to the necessity of speeding up road construction and, possibly, adding to the state's meager mass-transit systems, lawmakers will err on the side of caution.
Odds are that any increase in taxes will qualify as too little too late. For the electorate finds enduring rush-hour wear and tear more acceptable than shelling out enough to accelerate movement - and so what if inadequate roads choke port commerce and persuade tourists to bypass us. We're saving money, aren't we? by CNB