Survey: Many want better roads, bridges and are willing to pay
Panel putting together plan to pay for improved roads, bridges
By Tom Saul Quad-City Times | Posted: Wednesday, October 31, 2007
When he received the results of a survey commissioned for the Iowa Good Roads Association, Executive Director Dave Scott said he was as surprised as anyone.
By a 2-to-1 ratio, Iowans want to see higher state spending on repair and replacement of roads and bridges than on other items such as teacher pay increases and tax reductions, according to results of the survey done by Victory Enterprises of Davenport.
More surprising, Scott said, nearly half of those surveyed said they would be willing to pay a modest tax increase to get better roads and bridges. And 81 percent said they would be willing to pay a higher state motor fuel tax if there was a constitutional guarantee that it would be used only for roads and bridges.
"We're not talking about a lot, maybe three to five cents, but it shows that people value road and bridge systems that are in good repair," Scott said.
In the wake of a nationwide scare about the poor condition of bridges following the Aug. 1 collapse of a freeway span in Minneapolis, a legislative committee has been studying ways to come up with $200 million more per year to pay for improved roads and bridges. The panel is expected to deliver funding recommendations to lawmakers in January.
A 2005 assessment by the American Society of Civil Engineers said that 28 percent of Iowa's 24,854 bridges are in substandard condition.
In all likelihood, said state Sen. Tom Rielly, D-Oskaloosa, Senate co-chairman of the panel, it will recommend a motor fuels tax increase and changes in the state fee to register most pickup trucks. Now, pickup owners pay a flat fee based on the model year of the vehicle. Car owners pay based on the weight and age of their vehicles.
"A 5-cent-per-gallon increase would cover most of the $200 million, and the change in pickup registrations would take care of most of the rest," Rielly said. "A 5-cent increase would have an impact of about $30 a year on the average driver. We tried to look for ways to minimize the impact on everyone."
Rep. Jim Lykam, D-Davenport, who also sits on the committee, said Gov. Chet Culver has already told the panel that he won't approve some funding mechanisms. Among them are bonding, per-mile charges for motorists and a gas tax increase.
"There is no sense in going through the work only to have him veto it," Lykam said.
The panel has also asked the Iowa Attorney General's Office for an opinion to see if any new money collected for road and bridge repair and replacement can be dedicated strictly for that purpose, Lykam said.
A gas tax increase would be among the fairest methods of raising money, Rielly said. While Iowa drivers would pay a higher cost for fuel, out-of-state motorists who travel through the state also would pay. One estimate puts that amount at about 15 percent of the total raised from an increase in the fuels tax.
A December report to the Legislature from the Iowa Department of Transportation said the state "is on the verge of a transportation crisis," the result of a confluence of flattening revenue streams, skyrocketing construction costs, aging infrastructure and maintenance that has been put off for too long.
"While the system is not yet broken, it is at a tipping point where the cost to recover will grow exponentially if action is not taken now," the report said.
During its most recent session, legislators voted to create the TIME 21 fund to pay for road and bridge needs but did not name a funding source. It is the job of the panel to recommend income streams that would then be divided, with 60 percent going to the state and 20 percent each to Iowa's cities and counties.
Tom Saul can be contacted at (563) 383-2453 or tsaul@qctimes.com.
BREAKOUT
While nearly three-quarters of Iowa's 24,854 bridges have been built since 1958, the rest date from 1868 to 1957 and are well past their estimated useful life span of 50 years. A report from the Iowa Department of Transportation to the Legislature last year noted that the state faces a $27.7 billion shortfall in road and bridge funding over the next 20 years.
Year built Number of bridges Percentage
1868-1937 2,372 9.5%
1938-1957 4,001 16.1%
1958-2007 18,481 74.4%
Source: Iowa DOT
By a 2-to-1 ratio, Iowans want to see higher state spending on repair and replacement of roads and bridges than on other items such as teacher pay increases and tax reductions, according to results of the survey done by Victory Enterprises of Davenport.
More surprising, Scott said, nearly half of those surveyed said they would be willing to pay a modest tax increase to get better roads and bridges. And 81 percent said they would be willing to pay a higher state motor fuel tax if there was a constitutional guarantee that it would be used only for roads and bridges.
"We're not talking about a lot, maybe three to five cents, but it shows that people value road and bridge systems that are in good repair," Scott said.
In the wake of a nationwide scare about the poor condition of bridges following the Aug. 1 collapse of a freeway span in Minneapolis, a legislative committee has been studying ways to come up with $200 million more per year to pay for improved roads and bridges. The panel is expected to deliver funding recommendations to lawmakers in January.
A 2005 assessment by the American Society of Civil Engineers said that 28 percent of Iowa's 24,854 bridges are in substandard condition.
In all likelihood, said state Sen. Tom Rielly, D-Oskaloosa, Senate co-chairman of the panel, it will recommend a motor fuels tax increase and changes in the state fee to register most pickup trucks. Now, pickup owners pay a flat fee based on the model year of the vehicle. Car owners pay based on the weight and age of their vehicles.
"A 5-cent-per-gallon increase would cover most of the $200 million, and the change in pickup registrations would take care of most of the rest," Rielly said. "A 5-cent increase would have an impact of about $30 a year on the average driver. We tried to look for ways to minimize the impact on everyone."
Rep. Jim Lykam, D-Davenport, who also sits on the committee, said Gov. Chet Culver has already told the panel that he won't approve some funding mechanisms. Among them are bonding, per-mile charges for motorists and a gas tax increase.
"There is no sense in going through the work only to have him veto it," Lykam said.
The panel has also asked the Iowa Attorney General's Office for an opinion to see if any new money collected for road and bridge repair and replacement can be dedicated strictly for that purpose, Lykam said.
A gas tax increase would be among the fairest methods of raising money, Rielly said. While Iowa drivers would pay a higher cost for fuel, out-of-state motorists who travel through the state also would pay. One estimate puts that amount at about 15 percent of the total raised from an increase in the fuels tax.
A December report to the Legislature from the Iowa Department of Transportation said the state "is on the verge of a transportation crisis," the result of a confluence of flattening revenue streams, skyrocketing construction costs, aging infrastructure and maintenance that has been put off for too long.
"While the system is not yet broken, it is at a tipping point where the cost to recover will grow exponentially if action is not taken now," the report said.
During its most recent session, legislators voted to create the TIME 21 fund to pay for road and bridge needs but did not name a funding source. It is the job of the panel to recommend income streams that would then be divided, with 60 percent going to the state and 20 percent each to Iowa's cities and counties.
Tom Saul can be contacted at (563) 383-2453 or tsaul@qctimes.com.
BREAKOUT
While nearly three-quarters of Iowa's 24,854 bridges have been built since 1958, the rest date from 1868 to 1957 and are well past their estimated useful life span of 50 years. A report from the Iowa Department of Transportation to the Legislature last year noted that the state faces a $27.7 billion shortfall in road and bridge funding over the next 20 years.
Year built Number of bridges Percentage
1868-1937 2,372 9.5%
1938-1957 4,001 16.1%
1958-2007 18,481 74.4%
Source: Iowa DOT
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X-SSC wrote on Oct 31, 2007 9:24 PM: