And you thought the high price of gasoline, food, utilities and other necessities was bad enough. Now, another report has added yet another cloud of economic despair.
For those who can still afford to fill up and drive, prepare to be traveling on less-than-perfect roadways.
A portion of prices paid at the pump are federal and state taxes. Some believe lowering — or even eliminating these taxes — would offer significant help to average Americans struggling to get by with today’s higher prices.
But the group West Virginias for Better Transportation doesn’t necessarily agree. Because the high cost of gasoline is keeping some motorists off the road, tax revenues for road maintenance and construction is lower. Gas taxes account for about 60 percent of the state Road Fund revenue, which pays for maintenance, paving and repairs on state roads and bridges.
“There’s no question that if this trend continues, at some point it will have an affect on the state road fund,” Danny Ellis, business manager for the state Division of Highways, said in an Associated Press report.
The division projected it would garner about $400 million from the gas tax by the end of the current fiscal year in July. However, Ellis said collections are down roughly $3 million. And if the reduction in driving continues, West Virginia will confront the huge problem of figuring out how to pay for vital road maintenance — not to mention the new highway construction projects that have cost estimates up to $25 billion.
It’s a quandary. People can’t afford to drive because of the gas prices, which do include gas taxes. However, if they don’t drive the state can’t afford upkeep on current roads or to build new ones.
Keep West Virginia Moving (KWVM) has now launched a website it hopes will demonstrate to motorists they are not spending as much on gas taxes as they might think. An example from the Gas Tax Calculator: An motorist who drives about 30 miles a day in a vehicle that gets 16 miles to the gallon pays about 59 cents per day on state gas tax, $4.13 a week, $17.72 a month and $215.58 a year.
Depending on one’s perspective this may, or may not, sound like a lot of money. However what the KWVM website does not calculate is the federal tax dollars that are also included in the price of gasoline.
We understand and appreciate KWVM’s mission to “educate key opinion leaders ... the media and the general public regarding the benefits of and support for the continued construction and maintenance of a safe, modern surface transportation infrastructure and the benefits this brings to the state’s safety, employment and overall economy.”
Well-maintained roads are crucial to public safety and new highways are vital to our long-term economic development. However, we do not believe state and federal government officials can keep holding their hands out, palms up, to the American people whenever money is needed for highway infrastructure.
Times are tough on families and many are cutting costs — scaling down, pinching pennies and making sure every dollar is spent wisely. Is our government doing the same? This bleak economic era means our government must trim all fat, then work harder and smarter.
Don’t pass the hardship on the taxpayers.
They have enough problems on their own plate.
