Trust in MoDOT continues to be elusive

Any official who says "I'm from the government, and I'm here to help" is generally looking for a laugh. Rarely does anyone who hears such a remark believe someone from government is really going to do what they say.

It's an old punch line, one based on years of government bumbling, bureaucratic red tape, costly operations, mountainous paperwork and more than a few broken promises made in the heat of a political campaign.

So when legislators order a government agency to be more accountable by filing annual reports that will, in turn, be reviewed by those same legislators, any voter or taxpayer might have good cause to wonder about the value of this new government mandate.

That's what the Missouri Department of Transportation has been required to do since a 1998 law was passed after the financial meltdown of the 1992 15-year highway plan. The ambitious plan was to have been funded by a 6-cent increase in fuel taxes, but the extra revenue fell far short of the actual cost of all the promised road projects.

Many Missourians, however, still believe MoDOT either frittered away money that could have completed the 15-year plan or somehow could adjust its spending plans and make good on all those promises. It was no confidence builder for many of the Show Me State's citizens to find out what amounted to fiscal heresy: Much of the revenue the state collects that most of us might think goes to highways actually goes elsewhere.

Jim Moody, a former state budget director who is intimately familiar with details of Missouri's finances that would make the rest of our heads spin, says the mistrust of Missourians over how state government handles money runs deep. Many of us, Moody says, believe state government has a pool of money that can be shifted around in ways to take care of almost any financial need -- with need defined as which constituents of a particular spending priority have the loudest voice in Jefferson City.

Moody cites state-supported colleges and universities as an example. Of all state programs, higher education took the biggest hit in this year's budget squeeze. The result? Not much fallout in the state Capitol. And, even with significant boosts in tuition and fees, a college education in a public institution in Missouri is still a bargain. As a result, colleges and universities are likely to take even bigger hits in state funding.

Last week, MoDOT issued its annual accountability report that cited the completion of 206 projects at a cost of $594 million, which was slightly less than forecast.

And, despite what many state officials believe is a critical funding shortage for transportation, MoDOT has 666 active projects costing $3.5 billion, which is slightly more than projected.

The latest report is titled "MoDOT Accountability: A Success Story." But MoDOT director Henry Hungerbeeler concedes that the 3-to-1 defeat in August of a half-billion-dollar-a-year increase in state fuel taxes was a sign that voters still lack trust in the department.