Taxing Drivers By The Mile 1748Matthew Russotto the November How so? Presenting voters with a specific list of projects and a specific finance plan to pay for them in a specific time frame? What...
Matthew Russotto fares. taxes
Apparently not often enough, given the shortfall. It's been about 15 years here in CO, and there's been a loss of relative capacity of the tax to inflation. In CO, any tax increase must be voter-approved. So increasingly, regional gov'ts are going to voters for sales tax solutions. In El Paso County (Colorado Springs area) voters in November approved a penny sales tax for highways and transit.
less and
But the ratcheting-down effect of increased wear and tear and capacity needs versus the inflationary theft of buying power means delivering less road for the buck.
all
Not really. Not close at all unless you only include major roads.
Hmmm. You have a strange knee-jerk reaction to government. Providing roads for mobility is one of the most basic functions, so let's not begrudge them these other approaches. It's actually smart government, IMO. It's all voter-approved. It's targeted projects, so you know what you're buying when you vote on it. Dollars go to specific road improvements spelled out by the district. Tax expires on a date certain and road departments must come back for reauthorization if they need it to continue in effect.
they're and
As I said, tax increases here must be voter-approved, so no, not without our permission.
All of society, including non-drivers, benefits from efficient and well-maintained transportation networks. I don't see anything wrong in principle with non-user revenues going into a subsidy to roads. The gas taxes and other user fees simply aren't enough.
