MoDOT chief makes pitch for better funding

Transportation may not be the first word to come to mind in ways to improve business, but Missouri Department of Transportation officials are attempting to rectify that.

MoDOT director Dave Nichols spoke at First Friday Coffee in the Show Me Center about the ways well-maintained roads and improved transportation can benefit business and what changes the state could see in the future.

Access to good transportation -- via boat, automobile or public transit -- is one of the most vital components for a business looking to expand or relocate, Nichols said. It can also affect tourism, he added.

According to Nichols, Missouri has the seventh-largest highway system in the United States -- larger than those of Illinois and Kansas combined. Of Missouri's roads, 20 percent of them carry 80 percent of the traffic.

From 2005 to 2010, he said MoDOT had a "robust" construction program with a yearly budget of about $1.3 billion. Soon, that budget will be down to $700 million, and by 2017, $325 million. Nichols said it takes a yearly budget of about $485 million just to keep roads in their current condition.

MoDOT's funding comes primarily from fuel taxes, and Nichols said revenue from that is decreasing as fewer people buy vehicles and use less fuel. The cost for road materials such as steel and concrete have sharply increased in the past 20 years, which he said also affects the budget.

The department's budget struggle is twofold because federal funding likely will be depleted soon. Nichols said he recently spoke with officials in Washington, D.C., about the Federal Highway Trust Fund, and they expect the fund will be insolvent by August. The fund reimburses state transportation departments for large projects.

To combat this shortfall, Nichols said MoDOT talked with legislators about transportation funding through a temporary sales-tax increase. House Joint Resolution 68 proposes a constitutional amendment imposing a 1 percent temporary increase in the state sales and use tax for transportation projects, which would sunset in 10 years.

According to Nichols, 5 percent of the funds would go to cities, another 5 percent to counties and the rest would be divided among each of MoDOT's seven regions. Each region would determine how and what projects to spend the money from the tax.

The resolution would have to be approved in the House and the Senate, then brought before voters on the November ballot. A similar bill failed in Congress last year, but Nichols said he's cautiously optimistic about the new resolution.

srinehart@semissourian.com

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