THE powers that be in West Virginia have known since the early 1980s that the financial underpinnings of the State Road Fund were not going to be enough to keep 37,000 miles of state roads in good shape.
The Legislature acted this session to give the Division of Highways a little bit more to work with:
- The state renewed its nickel-a-gallon gas tax, which brings about $55 million a year to the Road Fund.
- Lawmakers also gave the division the use of $15.5 million a year that it had been forced to spend on non-highway expenses some State Police costs, the popular Courtesy Patrol, and the weight enforcement operation of the Public Service Commission. That $15.5 million is in the plus column.
- On the minus side, legislators addressed a tax that has long given West Virginia a black eye the privilege tax that so irks newcomers who have already paid privilege taxes on their vehicles in the states they left. Fixing that public relations problem will cost the Road Fund $5 million a year.
Such tinkering around the edges is welcome, but it is not enough to give West Virginia a healthy road-building and highway maintenance program.
Transportation Secretary Paul Mattox expressed gratitude this week for the recent revenue changes. But he noted straightforwardly that at current funding levels, the Division of Highways will be able to repave roads at least once every 22 years.
Cutting the repaving cycle to once every decade would take about $200 million more a year.
That's the choice facing West Virginians provide more revenue for roads, or pay for it in lost job opportunities and car repairs.
Nobody loves taxes. Everybody loves good roads. Somebody has to pay to provide them.