Marshall on the transportation issue

By DANNY MARSHALL
Published: June 22, 2008

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine proposes to raise more than $1 billion by levying several taxes and fees for transportation. This would be additional money, on top of the Department of Transportation’s current $4.99 billion budget. Kaine’s final plan was just released Thursday.

By the way — this extra legislative session will cost taxpayers an extra $25,000 a day.

In anticipation of the special transportation session, I sent out 6,500 surveys to random citizens across the 14th District. We have now had more than 950 responses — and they are still coming in.

My survey says …

I will not be able to support the governor’s plan for statewide tax and fee increases because I feel it is very important to listen to my constituents in Southside. I want to share the results of the survey to date:

 

• Increase the titling tax by 1 percent (to 4 percent) when you buy a car: 69 percent no, 28 percent yes, 3 percent no response; and

• Increase the annual vehicle registration fee by $10: 75 percent no, 23 percent yes, 2 percent no response.

Ideas that had been brought forward by others and listed on the survey were:

 

• Increase statewide sales tax by 1 percent: 62 percent no, 34 percent yes, 4 percent no response;

• Increase gasoline tax 1 cent each year for five years: 73 percent no, 23 percent yes, 4 percent no response;

• Impose a 5 percent tax on hotel and motel rooms: 45 percent no, 51 percent yes, 4 percent no response; and

• Raise gasoline tax 10 cents a gallon: 92 percent no, 4 percent yes, 4 percent no response.

Only the lodging tax increase received a borderline yes. The written responses, coupled with conversations with hundreds of folks across our area, confirm my general feeling that the people I represent do not believe that increasing taxes and fees statewide is in our region’s best interest at this time.

Constituents have raised serious concerns, questioning whether there is efficient spending of money by the commonwealth. Another stated resistance to raising taxes and fees for transportation relates to past actions. Money has been repeatedly borrowed from the transportation fund and put into the general fund to balance the budget or pay for unrelated projects. When there is a hole in the bucket, should we keep blindly pouring in water? We have some clean-up work to do.

At the special session, I plan to support a number of bills that I believe will help to move us in the right direction for the long term so that tax dollars are used as the public expects:

 

• It is mandatory that we secure the transportation trust fund so that governors can no longer borrow money from it to put in the general fund for unrelated projects. I will introduce a bill for a constitutional amendment to “lock up” money raised for transportation and hold it for its designated use.

• I will co-patron House Bill 6006, introduced by Delegate Chris Saxman, R-Staunton, which designates that any royalties and revenues paid to the commonwealth from future offshore natural gas and oil drilling profits go to the transportation trust fund, to be used only for transportation.

• I will co-patron House Bill 6005, introduced by Delegate Glenn Oder, R-Newport News, to conduct an independent audit of VDOT from top to bottom.

Do we have a problem?

When you think about it, we generally drive around our region on miles and miles of good roads, with few areas of congestion. What we call “waiting in traffic” is usually having to sit through a couple of traffic light changes at a busy intersection, or having a few weeks of single-lane traffic moving slowly due to bridge repairs or the repaving of a road.

There are some new road and bridge projects needed and planned that I am helping to push forward, but most of us can get to work, to school, to the doctor’s office and to the grocery store without sitting still for 20 or 30 minutes, or inching forward at a snail’s pace for an hour or two, as is the case for drivers in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads.

Our region does not have major problems now, but there is one particular circumstance that would gravely affect our future — changing the transportation funding formula.

At this point in time, the transportation formula for road funding is based on lane miles. If the basis for funding were to shift from the number of lane miles to the number of cars traveling on a road, this shift would help Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads, and hurt our rural areas — probably forever.

There are already enough General Assembly members from Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads to change that formula, should they press the issue. We must work to alleviate their congestion, but do it in a responsible way. If that funding formula ever changes, Southside will have major transportation problems.

I will continue working with the Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads delegations, as well as the other legislators across the state, who want to help all areas of the commonwealth but who want to spend the citizens’ money carefully and wisely.

• Marshall represents Danville and parts of southern Pittsylvania County and eastern Henry County in the Virginia House of Delegates.