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Plans of the candidates Date published: 10/11/2009
BY KELLY HANNON
The two candidates for governor have made proposals for funding transportation in Virginia. BOB McDONNELL'S PLAN Add tolls on Interstates 95 and 85 northbound for vehicles entering Virginia from North Carolina, generating $50 million a year. This requires Federal Highway Administration approval.
Dedicate 75 percent of the state's annual budget surplus to transportation. McDonnell estimates this could mean $86 million a year. But a surplus is not a reliable annual source; the state has not had one in several years.
Privatize ABC stores. McDonnell says the one-time sale could raise $500 million for transportation, based on estimates in a commission report overseen by former Gov. Doug Wilder in 2002. However, Wilder's $500 million figure actually included efficiencies in other state agencies as well as privatizing ABC stores. McDonnell also estimates the state would save $115 million in operating costs, while still collecting $179 million in taxes on wine, beer and spirits.
Audit VDOT. VDOT is reducing staff by 1,000 full-time positions and 450 hourly workers, consolidating offices, scaling back maintenance services such as median mowing, and has shuttered 18 rest areas and outsourced some services. But McDonnell's plan thinks another audit of VDOT could find $50 million in savings a year.
Use public-private partnerships and high occupancy toll lanes. Some public-private partnerships have had success, although a proposal to build HOT lanes on I-95 has been slowed by community concerns, a lawsuit and a tough credit market for project financing. Financing for large-scale projects may continue to be a problem until the economy turns around. Both McDonnell and Deeds support the HOT-lanes project on I-95, which would build several thousand commuter parking spaces in the Fredericksburg area.
Drill offshore for oil and natural gas. McDonnell proposes dedicating 80 percent of offshore drilling proceeds to transportation. His campaign estimated the state could raise $5 billion over the next 30 years, translating to $132 million annually for transportation, plus $45 million a year in taxes from oil and natural gas. However, these figures are all based on estimates, and drilling has not begun.
Let Northern Virginia retain sales tax.
should toll booths on the North Carolina border be used to fix the road problems in Northern Virginia? This is pretty much taxing the people of Greensville and Mecklenburg for roads in Fairfax, Arlington, and Alexandria.
Roads are paid from the transportation fund which is not the general fund. McDonnell will rob $5B from the general fund that pays for all other services including education. Selling ABC stores will reduce the general fund by another $100-$120M of ABC profits that will go to private companies every year. Two words can summarize the problem with transportation in VA. "Bill Howell." The obstructionist Speaker of the House of Delegates.
basically both candidates are promising more of the same -
dithering and jousting about how to increase funding for
transportation without admitting that at the end of the day -
that people will have to pay - whether it be taxes, fees, or
tolls.
So it boils down to Deeds promising to let someone else
decide what method for making citizens pay compared to
McDonnell with his 3202-like cockamamie .. and "sketchy"
ideas that are more prospective than prescriptive.
but both should wait until the econ improves.
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