Solution for Pa.'s transportation woes may be taxing
Share with others:
HARRISBURG -- A new report calling for hundreds of millions of additional dollars to be spent to fix state roads, bridges and mass transit has created a major political dilemma for Gov. Ed Rendell and the state Legislature.
State officials privately admit that sales taxes, gasoline taxes, road tolls, vehicle registration fees and/or bus and trolley fares will almost certainly have to be raised to generate the $866 million to $2.2 billion needed to rebuild hundreds of miles of roads and hundreds of bridges and get mass transit agencies in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia out of debt.
The scope of the road/bridge/transit crisis was outlined in a report made public yesterday by the Pennsylvania Transportation Funding and Reform Commission.
It is headed by Pennsylvania Department of Transportation Secretary Allen Biehler and was formed in early 2005 by Mr. Rendell. It must deliver a final report by Nov. 15 -- not coincidentally, a week after the Nov. 7 election -- containing specific recommendations on how to raise a minimum of $866 million needed to keep roads, bridges and transit from further deterioration.
One revenue generator mentioned in the report is an increase in the state's 31.5 cent-a-gallon tax on gasoline, already one of the highest in the nation.
But with the Nov. 7 election looming, no politician is likely to support an increase of at least several cents in the cost of a gallon of gasoline. That would hit the wallets of thousands of drivers -- and voters -- around the state.
House Majority Leader Sam Smith, R-Punxsutawney, wasted no time yesterday distancing himself from such a blow to motorists.
Mr. Smith "has no intention of supporting a gas tax increase when gas is $3 a gallon,'' said his aide, Stephen Miskin. He also criticized Mr. Rendell, a Democrat, for not proposing specific solutions.
"The governor still hasn't put forth his definitive solution to the [problem],'' Mr. Miskin said. "He still has been silent on that.''
Mr. Smith said the new report "sounds like Mr. Rendell's typical stance of 'we have to create a crisis so we can raise taxes.' "
GOP gubernatorial candidate Lynn Swann also assailed Mr. Rendell, saying, "He's had four years to fix this problem, but he has failed to do so."
Rendell spokesman Chuck Ardo countered that the governor had supported "several concrete proposals about transportation that the Republican-controlled Legislature failed to act on."
These include raising $207 million for mass transit through a small increase in the realty transfer tax, or raising $110 million for transit through an added car rental fee.
In early 2005, Mr. Rendell formed the transportation panel "to advise him on the scope and breadth of the problem, as well as to suggest solutions,'' Mr. Ardo said.
At that time, Mr. Rendell "flexed" $412 million in federal highway funds to the Port Authority and the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority in Philadelphia to keep their buses, trolleys and trains running without a fare increase. But that money will only last until the end of 2006, and then service cuts or higher fares could occur.
To date, Mr. Ardo said, the governor "has staved off massive fare increases and service cuts to mass transit and has invested about half a billion additional dollars in highway construction.''
Whatever revenue-raising proposals the report recommends would have to be enacted by the Legislature and signed by the governor.
Some legislators are saying action could come in the three-week lame-duck session. That begins after the Nov. 7 election and ends Nov. 30, which is also the end of the current two-year legislative session.
More than 40 incumbents are leaving office Nov. 30, either through voluntary retirement or because they lost in the May primary, and so are immune to voter wrath if higher taxes or fees are approved in the lame-duck session.
State Rep. Rick Geist, R-Altoona, head of the House Transportation Committee, said that higher bus and trolley fares in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia will almost certainly have to be part of the solution to the problem. Mr. Smith agreed.
Mr. Geist noted that the Allegheny County Port Authority is facing a $31 million budget shortfall this year and the Philadelphia transit agency is facing an even larger deficit.
Mr. Geist said it's unrealistic for Pittsburgh and Philadelphia residents to expect the Legislature to bail them out by providing 100 percent of the funds to erase those deficits.
Some service cuts and higher bus/trolley fares will almost certainly have to be part of the solution, he said.
The new commission report doesn't list specific money-raisers, but does mention some possibilities:
Increasing the personal income tax, the real estate transfer tax or the cigarette tax.
Increasing the state's $26 fee for a four-year renewal of a driver's license, or the $36 annual fee for renewing a passenger car registration, or the $58.50 annual registration fee for a light truck, or the $22.50 fee for a vehicle title. Another idea is to charge more for registration of larger passenger vehicles like sport utility vehicles.
Increasing the state's 6 percent sales tax (7 percent in Allegheny and Philadelphia counties). For each 0.1 percent increase in the sales tax, the state would generate an additional $141 million for transportation improvements.
Imposing tolls on roads that are now free. Interstate 80 is a target for such a move, since it gets a lot of out-of-state vehicles, especially trucks.
Increasing the current $1 charge on each new car tire sold.
Creating "public-private partnerships'' for some major highways, such as giving a private firm a long-term lease to operate the Pennsylvania Turnpike in exchange for a payment to the state of several billion dollars. The downside is that the private company might increase turnpike tolls to make more money.
Southwestern Pennsylvania residents will get a chance to comment on transportation funding ideas at a Sept. 12 hearing in Pittsburgh.
First Published August 24, 2006 12:00 am
