Austin, TX, 17th September 2020 – – While the Texas House Committee on Transportation is investigating highway funding in Texas, proponents of toll roads and other funding methods are making their voices heard.
As part of the interim fee from speaker Dennis Bonnen, the committee was tasked with investigating whether “the current mix of toll funding for the state highway system, including registration fees, tolls and fuel taxes, and [determining] if the funds currently generated are sufficient to maintain the cost requirements ”- Recommendations for additional methods of financing road infrastructure projects.
The committee usually met and received testimony on transportation funding from relevant government agencies and interested citizens and groups.
This year, however, only written certificates will be received, which must be submitted by September 18th.
Recently the Texas Association of Business (TAB) “Keep Texas movingAs a coalition to promote private road financing. The website says, “Texas Should Embrace and Use Private Investment and Managed Toll Lanes” to help with freeway congestion.
The group holds meetings with many local chambers of commerce nationwide to promote their ideas.
Speaking in Lubbock recently, Aaron Cox, Senior Vice President of TAB, said, “… it is time Texas turned to the private sector, public-private partnerships, and solutions like optional toll lanes to address the grave funding bottleneck in our state’s transportation system remedy. ”
He pointed to what was expected Budget deficit of $ 5 billion Glenn Hegar, recently announced by Texas Comptroller, added: “[a]Allowing private investment for the development of major highways would offset the loss of government revenue … ”
The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) is currently not allowed to use private funding. In his State of the state address In 2015, Governor Greg Abbott recognized highway congestion in Texas but proposed a budget “without levying taxes, fees, tolls or debt”.
In his Application for legislative means For the upcoming biennium, the Texas Department of Transportation is calling for $ 32.68 billion, most of which “only support highway projects”.
Texans United for Reform and Freedom (TURF), however, opposes public-private partnerships, saying they are not needed to provide highway funding as claimed by others.
TURF founder Terri Hall sees the economic downturn as an opportunity for those who support toll roads to move their agenda forward, but she believes taxpayers firmly oppose it.
“The Texans have … consistently and vociferously opposed any corporate takeover of our public infrastructure for good reason. The reality is [comprehensive development agreements] are the most expensive way to finance roads when taxpayers can least afford them. “
Hall points out that the referendum measures passed in recent years provided more government funding for the construction and maintenance of public highways on a pay-as-you-go basis, and shows that voters are not supporting the construction of more toll roads.
In 2014, voters approved a constitutional amendment that allocates part of oil and gas extraction taxes, also known as severance taxes, to the State Highway Fund (SHF). According to the Texas Ministry of Transport, it will be over between 2015 and 2019 $ 7 billion was deposited with the SHF due to this constitutional amendment.
Another constitutional amendment was passed the next year, allowing part of the sales and tax revenue to be used to finance highways another $ 7.5 billion of additional funding for the State Highway Fund.
“It’s time to tighten your belt,” Hall suggested to the committee in her written testimony. “That can mean projects are delayed or staggered,” adds that taxpayers expect their government to exercise “fiscal restraint and proper project management and prioritization.”
The Regional Transportation Council of the North Central Texas Council of Governments released a fact sheet this summer urging local governments to consider ways they can generate additional transportation revenue.
Proposals included introducing an optional registration fee of $ 10 or introducing regional reinvestment zones for transportation. These zones, established by the local governments, are used to gradually increase property tax revenue within the zone to finance transport projects.
An electric vehicle usage fee has also been proposed to “make up for lost fuel taxes”. Texas currently tax gasoline at 20 cents per gallon, while the federal government has a tax of 18.4 cents per gallon.
