Just Fix It!

Funding for our transportation system is a top priority for almost every Wisconsin city, regardless of size. Last fall the Common Council signed on to support to the Just Fix It campaign. You can read their resolution here:

http://216.56.16.162:8080/City%20Council/2015-11-24/VII.D.%20Res%2015-30...

and learn more about the campaign here:

http://www.tdawisconsin.org/just-fix-it-wisconsin/

I’m not an expert on the issue, but here’s my quick take on the challenge before us:

•   Transportation funding in Wisconsin relies almost exclusively on a combination of gas tax revenues, motor vehicle fees, and bonding (borrowing money).

•   Gas tax revenues are declining due to more fuel efficient vehicles. At one time the gas tax was indexed to increase with inflation but the indexing provision was removed in 2006. As a result, gas tax revenues are declining.

•   Motor vehicle registrations fees have not increased since 2008 and are significantly lower than most of our Midwestern peers.

•   While revenue is declined or flat, costs for construction projects are increasing at a rate higher than inflation. 

•   To plug the growing gap between revenue and expenditures, the state has been borrowing more money for road projects. (You may remember that additional borrowing was how last year’s transportation budget problem was resolved). More debt means that a larger portion of future budgets must go towards debt payments and the problem just gets worse.

Our State Senator, Howard Marklein, was one of the speakers at a conference session on this issue. He put the problem in simple terms. We either have to spend less or we have to increase revenues. Most would agree that spending less isn’t a viable option. The Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance, a non-partisan organization that does policy analysis, recently gave Wisconsin roads a “D”. 

In Platteville, about 25% of our budget for local street repair comes the State. The amount of aid we receive is based on a percentage of our road expenditures over previous six years. And, you guessed it, that percentage has gone down. If the 2016 percentage had been the same as 2011, we would have had an additional $100,000 to put towards street projects (As a reference point, the City would have to raise property taxes by over 4% to raise $100,000).  With funding at the State level decreasing relative to need, we can expect that everyone will be fighting hard for a piece of the increasingly smaller pie.

Given how important transportation is for our economic development, this doesn’t bode well for our future. I overheard one CEO say that he doesn’t take prospective candidates on certain streets in town because they give a bad first impression. .

Senator Marklein is generally a very fiscally conservative guy but he indicated he would support looking at the gas tax and motor vehicle fees to address the issue. That might not make him popular in some circles in the short run, but I think it is very smart for our state in the long run.

If this issue is important to you, you can join the Just Fix it campaign by doing one of the following:

• Text JustFixItWI to 52886 or visit the TDA website to sign up for action alerts. Once a month, TDA will generate a message for elected officials. In no more than a minute, you can send an email, tweet or Facebook post to let them know transportation is important to you and your community.

• Like TDA Wisconsin on Facebook and invite your friends to like the page as well.

• Follow TDA Wisconsin on Twitter.

• Join the conversation by posting pictures of the roads in your community that you’d like to see receive some TLC or other transportation challenges. And if your community has benefited from transportation investment, share that too. Make sure to include

#JustFixItWI.