Editorial

Higher highway taxes - Let's do the math

A bill in the Missouri Senate that would raise the state's tax on fuel -- subject to voter approval in August -- is a good reason to question whether state lawmakers and highway officials are any better at math today than they were in 1992.

In 1992, the Missouri Department of Transportation developed an ambitious 15-year plan for highways across the state. In order to make the plan fly, MoDOT officials said, the state tax on fuel -- at that time 11 cents a gallon and the lowest in the nation -- would have to be increased by 6 cents a gallon. The extra revenue, along with additional federal highway dollars, would be enough to pay for the 15-year plan, officials said.

So lawmakers approved the 6-cent increase, which was phased in to make the current state tax on fuel 17 cents a gallon.

But the 15-year plan crashed after just a few years. MoDOT officials said their math had been wrong. It was so wrong, they said, that it would take another billion dollars a year -- on top of the increased fuel tax -- to pay for everything in the 15-year plan.

Ever since, MoDOT officials, governors and legislators have been trying to find some way to raise more money for highways. But even before last year's dramatic economic downturn, there were signs that any massive increase in taxes to raise more money for highways would face some tough hurdles.

For the past two years, Missouri's budget has been feeling the squeeze of too much spending and not enough revenue to pay for it all. Keep in mind that state revenue has grown during those two years -- but not as fast as spending.

Now Gov. Bob Holden and legislators are painfully aware that the slowdown in state revenue growth is putting quite a crimp in costly programs whose funding needs keep growing. It is in this atmosphere of belt-tightening and statewide program cuts that the effort to find more money for highways continues.

The Senate bill proposes increases in both the state fuel tax and the state sales tax. As of last week, the proposed boost in the fuel tax was up to 6 more cents a gallon, which would leave Missouri with a state fuel tax higher than any of its neighbors except Nebraska.

The questions that must be asked as these tax plans are being developed are simple -- and they are the same questions that should have been asked 10 years ago: What assurance is there that a 6-cent fuel-tax increase and other proposed increases will raise the $500 million a year intended for transportation needs? And even if taxpayers are willing to endorse such a tax increase, how can they be assured that all of the extra revenue will go for needed projects?

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