FORUM FOCUSES ON MODOT NEEDS

Missouri government should reach into its own pockets before it turns to taxpayers for more money to fund transportation projects, a Missouri Chamber of Commerce official said Tuesday.

Michael Grote, assistant director of governmental affairs for the Missouri Chamber of Commerce, delivered that message at a transportation forum in Cape Girardeau.

Grote said state government spending in recent years has been growing by nearly $1 billion annually. The state's current budget of $19.6 billion is $2.6 billion above last year's, he said, and from 1992 to 2000, the number of state employees increased by nearly 10,000, to 59,252.

That isn't reflected at the Missouri Department of Transportation, where the number of employees has declined, said Henry Hungerbeeler, highway department director.

The agency has more than 6,000 employees.

Grote said the budget sprawl adds up to a state government that can and should pump at least $300 million more into road and bridge projects annually.

Hungerbeeler said MoDOT plans to save $160 million over five years by delaying filling some positions and cutting other expenses, including possibly closing small offices. The savings would provide additional money for transportation projects, he said.

The state chamber and the Missouri Farm Bureau sponsored the forum, one of 18 being held around the state this month. The Missouri Department of Transportation has made presentations at the forums. Fifty people, including several state lawmakers, turned out for Tuesday's meeting at the Show Me Center.

Grote suggested the state reallocate $183 million a year in highway funds that currently go to other state agencies. The largest share, $114 million, goes to the Department of Public Safety, which includes the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

Grote said the state should use general revenue to operate such departments rather than highway funds.

Vehicle sales tax

In addition, half of the state's revenue from the sales tax on motor vehicles currently goes into general revenue. Grote said that amounts to $125 million a year, money that should be reallocated to MoDOT.

Contractors and others have suggested MoDOT needs $600 million more a year to pay for road maintenance and transportation improvements.

Neither the chamber nor the Farm Bureau have embraced a tax hike, but Grote said some options include hiking the state sales tax, the fuel tax or vehicle registration fees.

A half-cent increase in the sales tax could generate $360 million, he said.

But Hungerbeeler said MoDOT, which operates on a $2 billion budget, needs another $1 billion a year for the next 20 years to build and repair roads and fund other transportation projects such as mass transit.

"The public is demanding we do a better job of taking care of the system," he said.

A billion-dollar increase in funding would allow the state to complete most 15-year plan projects, improve 6,000 miles of road, construct major river bridges, upgrade major roads and interstates and invest in river ports and other types of transportation.

MoDOT currently is using bonds to fund some transportation projects. By the end of the next fiscal year, MoDOT will have issued $1.1 billion in bonds, Hungerbeeler said.

"So in 2004 we fall off a cliff: We stop borrowing money," he said. Meanwhile, the state will be spending $90 million a year for the next 20 years to pay off the bonds, Hungerbeeler said.

That's money that won't be spent on transportation projects, he said.