Road tax issue gets help from highway board

State highway commissioners are eager to promote passage of a tax plan on the Aug. 6 ballot that could raise anywhere from $483 million to $511 million a year for road and other transportation improvements.

Without added revenue, there will be little money for new construction, they said during a meeting of the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission in Cape Girardeau on Friday.

About 50 people attended the meeting at the Show Me Center, including officials with the Missouri Department of Transportation district office in Sikeston, Mo. The commission last met in Cape Girardeau in 1999.

Commissioner James Anderson of Springfield said the commissioners should be active in the "external campaign" to pass the tax.

"I think we have a role to play," Anderson said.

Henry Hungerbeeler, director of MoDOT, welcomed the efforts of commissioners to push the ballot measure, which would add another 4 cents to the fuel tax and increase the state sales tax by a half-cent.

Commissioner Bill McKenna of Crystal City said it's critical voters approve the tax plan.

"If we don't get new money, that will leave us little money for system expansion," he said.

"If we are not successful, we just kind of come to a halt," McKenna said.

John Mehner, president of the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce, told the commission that the chamber board wants details on projects that would be funded with the tax before deciding on whether to support the statewide tax measure on the August ballot.

Mehner also presented written remarks that focused heavily on the chamber's support of the proposed Interstate 66 project.

In those remarks, Mehner recommended the interstate route cross the Mississippi River at Cape Girardeau on the new Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge. Ultimately, the route should include improvements to Highway 34 to link to the U.S. 60 corridor across southern Missouri, he wrote.

The I-66 project, however, currently isn't in the state's road plans.

MoDOT officials say the agency is hard pressed to maintain its existing road system.

State highway officials said MoDOT spends about $320 million a year right now on maintenance of the transportation system, well short of the $600 million a year needed.

At the same time, Hungerbeeler said, construction projects remain a top priority.

"We do not want to have a repeat of broken promises as we did in the past," he told commissioners, a reference to the controversial 1992 tax plan that failed to fund all the projects promised.

In 1992, the state legislature increased the state fuel tax by 6 cents per gallon without seeking voter approval.

In exchange for the increase, MoDOT promised an ambitious plan that spelled out every road and bridge project that would be undertaken over 15 years. But by 1998, the state had scrapped the plan. MoDOT officials said it was based on faulty and unrealistic cost projections.

Like the 1992 plan, this one will have specific projects.

The commission plans to meet next week in Jefferson City to review a list of possible projects that could be built if the tax measure passes. But the final list of projects could take several more weeks to set up.

"I think in a few weeks we are going to have that put together," said commissioner Duane Michie of Hayti. "It is going to be absolutely vital that we get that information as job specific as possible. We don't want another surprise like the 1992 deal."

Hungerbeeler said state highway officials have met with transportation groups who will campaign for the tax measure.

Groups plan to raise $3 million to $4 million to push for passage of the ballot issue. So far, about $1.5 million has been raised, he said.

Polling of probable voters on the tax issue could begin as early as this weekend, Hungerbeeler said. State agencies can spend tax dollars to educate voters about ballot measures, but legally can't use the money to advocate passage.

Supporters of campaigns for transportation tax measures typically include contractors and consulting engineers.

"They stand to gain the most," said Scott Meyer, Southeast Missouri district engineer for MoDOT.

In other business on Friday, the commission authorized the issuance of over $200 million in bonds as part of a continuing series of bond issues to fund transportation projects.

The commissioners also discussed the fiscal 2003 operating budget. The commission will consider adopting the budget when it meets in July.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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