West Virginians have a problem - how to build and maintain highways. Road users' taxes don't provide enough revenue for highway work anymore.
Higher gasoline prices and improved fuel efficiency have done a number on the State Road Fund.
Revenue from taxes on fuel, vehicle sales and registrations have stagnated. The state has so far received $14.6 million less than the $631.6 million it expected from these taxes for the fiscal year that ends June 30.
State leaders must design another financial mechanism if the Division of Highways is to stay on top of West Virginia roads - clearly a priority for the state.
The governor and the Legislature have tried providing stopgaps to keep the Road Fund in reasonable shape, but it's clear that the whole approach to funding roads must be re-thought.
Professor Tom Witt, who heads the Bureau of Business and Economic Research at West Virginia University, has studied the problem and flatly warned that there are no easy solutions to it.
That sounds like taxes, citizens' least favorite thing - except, perhaps, for traffic tie-ups, rickety bridges, potholes and broken axles.
Roads are a necessity. Citizens expect government to provide them.
One way or the other, the governed have to provide the money to make that possible.