Unlocking gridlock without new taxes

By Jay Balasbas, Evergreen Freedom Foundation

Transportation is arguably the biggest and most expensive problem facing our state. Years of neglect in infrastructure improvements and poor mismanagement of available state resources have made the Puget Sound region one of the most congested areas in the country.

Lawmakers say there isn’t enough money to fix our transportation problems. Their solution is to raise taxes. But no new taxes are necessary. There are ways to fund new road projects without burdening taxpayers any more than we already are. If our elected leaders improve the budget process, restructure the Department of Transportation (DOT) to ensure greater accountability, look for real efficiencies, and consider other funding sources, they will find that no tax increases are needed.

The transportation budget process is broken and must be fixed. Appropriations are currently written in non-binding, loose language and the Secretary of Transportation is given unlimited transfer authority to move money between transportation programs. Fixing the budget will increase accountability and efficiency.

State law requires that agencies create performance measures and submit them with their budget requests. Yet, these are not treated seriously and are often meaningless to actual progress. Transportation agencies should prove their necessity by adopting meaningful and achievable performance measures to show progress in achieving their core missions. Legislators must also include with each major item in the budget clear and realistic expectations of results.

DOT also needs restructuring. The Blue Ribbon Commission on Transportation identified 468 different government entities with their hands in transportation planning, funding, management and construction. No wonder money isn’t spent on roads. It’s all going into bureaucracy!

The 468 government agencies can be reduced to three: State Patrol, Department of Licensing, and Department of Transportation. However, simply restructuring the system will not produce more efficiency and accountability. Each of the agencies, particularly DOT, must have a clear and concise mission statement, quantifiable goals, and meaningful performance measures to show progress in achieving their goals.

Competitive bidding should be encouraged in the delivery of transportation services. Competition in the marketplace improves performance and keeps costs down. Contrary to some claims, competitive bidding does not necessarily mean that public services become privately operated. Rather, public employees and the private sector would compete head-to-head for the opportunity to perform a public service.

The permitting process for transportation projects should be streamlined so the real business of building and maintaining our transportation systems can go forward. As the old maxim goes, "time is money." The current permitting process wastes time, money, and bogs down meaningful congestion relief projects.

Even after we restructure the system, there still may be a need for transportation funds. Instead of raising the gas tax or imposing a ridiculous odometer tax, lawmakers should consider alternative ways of finding revenue.

State and local governments should sell their interests in assets such as Safeco Field, the Seahawks stadium, the Seattle Convention Center, Boeing Field, and Sea-Tac Airport. Using an industry rule of thumb that ties the value of an airport to the number of passengers it serves each year, Sea-Tac Airport alone could bring in almost $2 billion in transportation revenue. Selling these and other assets would generate one-time revenue and recurring money from property, sales, business and occupation taxes.

The sales tax on new automobiles and other private transportation-related sales should be used to fund new roads. There is no reason for transportation sales tax revenue to be used for non-transportation purposes.

More funds can also be generated by privatizing the ferry system and cancelling the Sound Transit light rail project.

Taxpayers demand and deserve accountability for the money they provide to transportation agencies. Lawmakers are naive if they think voters will approve tax increases for transportation when current revenues are not being spent wisely. Until the above suggestions have been considered, legislators cannot say there is not enough money for transportation.

Jay Balasbas is the Deputy Communications Director for the Evergreen Freedom Foundation, an Olympia-based policy research organization.

Contact: Marsha Richards, Communications Director, (360) 956-3482

Evergreen Freedom Foundation P.O. Box 552, Olympia, WA 98507 Phone: (360) 956-3482, Fax: (360) 352-1874 Email: effwa@effwa.org