Gov. Walz’s team points to future needs with gas-tax plans
The Democratic governor has wielded that argument against Republican lawmakers intent on blocking his gas tax hike, leveraging a national narrative of decrepit infrastructure.
But the data show a far murkier picture of the condition of Minnesota roads and bridges.
After the
None of this should be very surprising given budget increases for the state
“We’re adding more money every year,” said state Sen.
The Walz administration counters that their proposal is about the future -- and a grim one for
“The status quo runs us over the funding cliff,” said
Walz, a
The gas tax debate -- both in
In
“You’re taking from schools,” Walz said in an interview last week, referring to Republicans’ use of some sales taxes to pay for roads. The
State Sen.
But the effect of moving money from other government programs to roads is clear: Curtail the overall growth of government.
Walz’s plan, instead, would grow state government coffers to the tune of more than
The
Anderson Kelliher, the state transportation commissioner, said the agency is climbing a steeper financial hill with a rapidly emptying gas tank. She was instrumental in passage of the last gas tax increase in 2008 while she was
She and other Walz administration officials believe the state still has a lot of ground to make up on road funding. Minnesota’s system of roads is the fifth largest in the country. And it is aging -- more than half the system is at least 50 years old, according to MnDOT.
A recent report from the
Like all government agencies, MnDOT’s first priority is protecting assets. With so many road-miles in greater
Waiting too long to fix a road will drive up costs, said
The cost of construction has more than doubled since 2004, according to MnDOT, while inflation in the rest of the economy is closer to 30 percent. Without an increase to account for that rapid inflation, the gas tax delivers less bang for the buck every year. The price of steel, concrete and skilled labor increases every year, while the gas tax stays the same. If the state gas tax had been tied to inflation since 1988, it would now be about
The federal government is not always a reliable partner.
In
Anderson Kelliher also argues that the infusion of money would help ease property taxes, because 40 percent of MnDOT money goes to counties and cities, which are forced to pay a larger and larger share of road fixes. “There’s no way around it: Someone has to pay,” she said.
The
His point appears to be that if the two sides met in the middle, the increase would be zero.
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