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$650
Million in Hiding
There
is a lot more new money for transportation
projects than commonly realized -- if lawmakers
would only count it!
Building
transportation capacity is center stage in this
year’s General Assembly. The central issues are:
how much money is needed to add to Virginia's
transportation network, how much can we afford,
and whether additional taxes and fees need to be
extracted from the citizens of Virginia. This
debate is long overdue.
Everyone
knew this debate was coming. It was evident when
the 2004 tax hike set aside no additional funds
for transportation, and last year when the General
Assembly earmarked some $800 million from the
surplus for transportation. The stage was set for
this year’s confrontation.
The
goal that many have set is to raise about $1
billion a year for transportation. That number was
talked about two years ago, and it has become the
accepted spending number by many business
organizations today.
Reaching
that number does not require new taxes, and it
shouldn't be difficult as long as we are talking
about “new transportation” dollars -- dollars
that were not available when $1 billion a year was
first tossed on the table. We need to open our
eyes to significant changes in the past two years.
Here's what's missing from this year's debate:
First,
last year's federal “highway” bill – so
controversial for its 6,000 plus earmarks -- is
bringing $300 million a year in new transportation
funds to Virginia. This huge influx of funds
should be considered part of the formula in
reaching our $1 billion-a-year goal. These are
brand new dollars. Yet, no one is talking about
them.
Of
course, federal dollars add significantly to the
overall cost of the projects they fund: as much as
40 percent according to the U.S. Congress itself.
The use of these dollars would be much more
efficient, and the cost of providing Virginia’s
transportation needs would be much reduced, if
they were applied to only a few of the most costly
projects. Spreading federal transportation dollars
and accompanying inefficiencies across the
landscape would be very costly and should be
stopped.
Second,
private investments through public/private
partnerships will bring in additional funds not
currently being calculated into the $1
billion-a-year goal. Yet, these are new dollars
not part of the formula and they should not be
left out of the calculations. Billions of dollars
are being negotiated for improving Interstate 81,
building more capacity on the Interstate 95/495
corridor in Northern Virginia and the Dulles
corridor as well, and private funds will surely be
part of the “third crossing” in Virginia
Beach. The private investment just for HOT lanes
in Northern Virginia is expected to amount to $900
million, or $225 million a year. The deals may not
be finalized yet, but everyone knows that they're
coming in the next several months.
Third,
contracting out the maintenance of our roads to
the private sector has proven financially
successful. But only 250 miles of over 9,000 miles
of our interstate and primary roads are under
private maintenance. And there are over 40,000
miles of secondary roads that could also use
private maintenance. It is projected that Virginia
could save more than $200 million or so each year
by moving maintenance to the private sector.
Contracting out road maintenance should be the
goal over the next four years and the savings
should be used to pay for the maintenance backlog
and for new construction. These savings also
should be applied to the 20-year, $1
billion-a-year plan.
These
sources of “new” transportation dollars are,
conservatively speaking, likely to total $650
million per year once they are fully implemented.
In other words, nearly two-thirds of the $1
billion a year that Virginia needs is already on
the table. Including these additional sources of
funding could make the transportation debate less
shrill and more transparent.
Breaking
down where the resources are available to solve
the problem makes the “crisis” much more
manageable and government action much more
focused.
--
February 27, 2006
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