DOT: State roads face‘crisis' because of funding shortages

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By Todd Dorman | Tuesday, January 2, 2007 11:27 PM CST | () comments

DES MOINES — Iowa’s road construction funding shortfall will top $27 billion over the next 20 years, including $4 billion for “critical” repairs along existing highways, according to a Department of Transportation study issued Tuesday.

Shrinking the shortfall might require raising the state’s gasoline tax, hiking vehicle registration fees or charging more for a driver’s license. The final call is in the hands of state lawmakers.

“As with the rest of the nation, Iowa is on the verge of a transportation crisis,” according to the study, requested by the Legislature earlier this year.

At the Statehouse, however, leaders are not ready to embrace the idea of a tax or fee increase to feed the state’s appetite for pavement. Brad Anderson, spokesman for Governor-elect Chet Culver, said the Democrat has no plans to ask lawmakers for a higher gasoline tax.

“Governor-elect Culver did not run on a platform that included increasing the gas tax, increasing truck and driver’s license fees and toll roads,” Anderson said. “These things will not be in his upcoming budget.”

Sen. Joe Bolkcom, D-Iowa City, the incoming chairman of the tax-writing Senate Ways and Means Committee, said the chances for a gas tax increase are “slim.”

“I don’t see a rush to raise the gas tax,” Bolkcom said. “I think it’s a developing issue that needs discussion.”

Iowa’s demand for road construction and repairs is growing even as the state’s $1 billion Road Use Tax Fund slowly shrinks. The fund is largely fueled by gasoline taxes, registration fees and sales taxes charged on new vehicles.

At the same time, the price of construction materials and other costs are rising sharply.

The study recommends that lawmakers find at least an additional $200 million annually to keep up with what the report calls critical needs. That would not, however, provide enough dollars for ambitious expansion projects such as along U.S. 20 or U.S. 30.

The study lays out a menu of options for lawmakers that would raise new dollars, but it leaves the decision in their hands.

For example, every penny added to Iowa’s current gasoline tax — 21 cents per gallon for regular unleaded and 19 cents for a 10 percent ethanol blend — collects an additional $22 million annually.

Requiring current pickup truck owners to pay higher registration fees akin to fees paid by other vehicle owners would raise $59 million. Putting off the change until the 2009 model year would raise $10 million in 2008 and $40 million by 2011.

Hiking the tax on new vehicles by 1 percent adds $40 million to the annual revenue pool while doubling the cost of a driver’s license raises $12 million.

The study also speculates on creating a vehicle tax based on mileage and putting toll booths on some Iowa roads.

“There’s no preference given to any one idea,” DOT spokeswoman Dena Gray-Fisher said.

Any new money would be pumped into what the report calls the TIME-21 fund. That pool would be spent through a different funding formula than the one now used by the DOT — with a smaller slice of the pie for counties, the same amount for cities and more for state roads.

New state money would be focused on projects tied to interstates and major state highways that are part of the state’s Commercial Industrial Network.

The DOT, Iowa League of Cities, Iowa State Association of Counties, Iowa County Engineers’ Association and Iowa State Association of County Supervisors each endorsed the report’s findings.

Debi Durham, president of the Siouxland Chamber of Commerce, expressed concern that urban areas don’t get a larger share of any new funding. The Iowa Chamber Alliance, a group of urban chambers of commerce, has long asked for a more urban-centered funding approach.

“I think we would really have to question that,” Durham said. “Certainly we would welcome additional funding for Highway 20, making it a four-lane corridor. But beyond that, we still believe the formula has to be readjusted.”

Todd Dorman can be contacted at (515) 243-0138 or todd.dorman@lee.net.