Just to finance routine operations, the New Hampshire Department of Transportation is spending $100,000 per day more than it's taking in. Every day, the state falls further behind in its goal of upgrading its aging highway infrastructure and replacing bridges on its "rest list." The situation is unsustainable.
The transportation department's problem is twofold. The price of virtually everything it buys, from fuel for its vehicles to asphalt to repave roads, has increased dramatically. Meanwhile, revenue, which is derived primarily from the state's 18 cents-per-gallon gasoline tax, has fallen because people are driving less and driving more fuel-efficient vehicles. Overall, driving is down 4 percent and toll-paying turnpike traffic is down 8 percent.
Transportation Commissioner George Campbell says his department will face a $1 billion deficit by 2018 if nothing is done. That shortfall will occur despite a $2 billion cut in funding earlier this year to the state's 10-year highway plan.
There's no single answer to the problem, which, if roads must be plowed and salted less often and maintenance delayed, threatens public safety. But the seriousness of the shortfall means that for the first time since 1992, the governor and Legislature should increase the gas tax .
Constitutionally, revenue from the gas tax can be used only to finance highway construction and maintenance. But for years, a growing share of the highway fund has been diverted to pay for what critics contend are non-highway uses. The House Public Works and Highway Committee thought so too. When it began studying the diversion problem, it expected to find a large pot of money that could be returned to the highway fund. That turned out not to be the case. About $13.5 million in highway fines kept by the Department of Safety and the court system will go back into the fund in the next budget. But the committee found no other unjustified diversions.
Good, well-maintained roads are crucial to a thriving economy. That's especially true of a tourist state like New Hampshire. Poor roads, as many residents have learned, are paid for in lost time and exorbitant vehicle repair costs. Residents will also pay in another way if the highway fund continues to be inadequately funded. Cities and towns get 12 percent of the fund to spend on local roads. When those funds shrink, either roads aren't repaired or property taxes increase.
The department estimates that every penny added to the gas tax raises $7.5 million. So just to cover the annual shortfall of $36.5 million in the department's operating budget, the tax would have to go up by 5 cents per gallon. We don't know what the right size for an increase should be, but the average state gasoline tax nationally is 28.6 cents per gallon. We do know that any increase should be significant, because it's likely to be many years before the tax could be raised again.
The price of gasoline has dropped by more than half since midsummer, so the increase would not be as painful as it might have been. And increasing the tax would create a disincentive, now that prices are low, for motorists to return to their gas-guzzling ways.
Like tolls, which were increased last year, the gasoline tax is a user fee. That fee, unchanged for 16 years, is no longer adequate to guarantee a safe and effective highway system. It's either raise the tax or watch the roads crumble.
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Comments
Looks like they are waiting for a load of asphalt..?? really?
By kenstcyr - 12/10/2008 - 4:08 amNo, they were not. And a good point about the DOT is if they do inferior work,,,they just get to do it again...as they will have to in this case...1 year later and this culvert looks worse than before they fixed it. Now if a PRIVATE company had done this, the state could have said we won't give you any more work untill you make this right, and I'm sure it would have been taken care of. I ask you....who do you think keeps a closer eye on the bottom line...a prrivate company ot the DOT?
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M-J-E Comment 10:21
By Anonymous - 12/09/2008 - 6:21 pmM-J-E, you wrote:
"Your lack of respect for the office is what makes your arguments of less value, IMHO."
Like the way your posts constantly have no respect for the office of President, Vice President or Senator?
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RE: To No Problem
By Anonymous - 12/09/2008 - 6:19 pmNo, that story is not getting old. Traveling the state I see it all of the time. These highway workers are in NO HURRY to get anything done.
Not all employees of the state are single tasking, only most of them.
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Anonymous 10:49 "Companionship"
By Anonymous - 12/09/2008 - 5:57 pmI believe that the original person posting on the subject was criticizing the employees in the toll booths for their "attitude". The point they made about the Hooksett toll taker (whose car I see with the union regalia all over it) is quite accurate.
There is an expectation that people respond to customers as if they want to be at that toll booth, or registry desk or reception area. No one is asking for companionship but to have an attitude like you don't want to be there and then have SEIU bumper stickers on your car says: "I am union and I am just here to collect a check!"
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Ken
By Anonymous - 12/09/2008 - 4:38 amLooks like they are waiting for a load of asphalt.
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To No Problem
By kenstcyr - 12/08/2008 - 8:34 pmno...dot guys standing around isnt getting old...but 6 guys standing around and then doing crappy work and having to do it again is...look at this...try to believe your lying eyes..
http://granitegrok.com/blog/2007/10/monday_poll_nh_dot_toll_hikes_are_th...
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To No Problem
By Anonymous - 12/08/2008 - 5:32 pmYour 'six guys standing' thing is getting a little old, don't you think?
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"You know, tourists would
By Anonymous - 12/08/2008 - 10:49 am"You know, tourists would not mind paying that toll if a smiling face greeted them and said; "$1.00 please and welcome to New Hampshire". "
I don't really care if tourists mind or not, but I don't go tot he toll booths for conversation or companionship, I'm perfectly happy with them taking my money and letting me be on my way
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Anonymous
By Honest Abe - 12/08/2008 - 10:21 amIf as you say: Governor Smiley Face is appropriate as he lacks any depth or substance and is afraid to make a decision.....
Why was her elected to a third term? Your lack of respect for the office is what makes your arguments of less value, IMHO.
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Another Idea
By Anonymous - 12/08/2008 - 7:38 amThe toll increase, 5 cent gas increase and toll booths on all borders sound like a good idea to me.
What about a $10 raise on registrations. If you multiply the number of cars registered in Nh by $10 or even $20 that would be an easy way to raise some money! If there are a million cars on the roads then you would raise $10,000,000. If we are going over budget by $100,000 per day than that would be a little over 3 months worth of relief (or 6 months at $20 per registration). Add that to the other suggestions and we are all set. Seems like that would not be very painful!
BUT, BUT, BUT that money has got to be used on infrastructure (bridges, roads, etc.) and not handed over to the general fund to be used and wasted by legislators!
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M-J-E
By Anonymous - 12/08/2008 - 7:31 amBut I imagine that you would more than likely agree with the revenue solution. It is the only one.
Actually, Governor Smiley Face is appropriate as he lacks any depth or substance and is afraid to make a decision.
Now, M-J-E, let's be honest, does that really make my entry lose all credibility? If it does it makes many of yours do so when you compare people to heinous characters throughout history and call people "fascists".
However, in one short response I have shown Concord how to solve the fiscal crisis.
Done! Finished! I am sure however that they are unwilling to earmark that money for JUST highways and keep their paws off.
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Anonymous
By Honest Abe - 12/08/2008 - 7:03 amYour points lose their validity when you say this: Governor Smiley Face
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The problem with the tolls
By Anonymous - 12/07/2008 - 9:14 pmI am so aggravated by these toll booth operators with lackluster personalities.
You know, tourists would not mind paying that toll if a smiling face greeted them and said; "$1.00 please and welcome to New Hampshire". Instead drivers are met with a grunt and a sigh. They all have SEIU bumper stickers on their cars and act as if they are "owed" something.
The Hooksett on ramp is a prime example. The toll booth operator there grunts at you and gives dirty looks if you have an EZ-Pass. On his car at the parking lot to the right is his car....and on the bumper is "I belong to the SEIU and I vote" or something like that. He stands there in a little booth all day long. What does he want us to think of his job. The SEIU uses the tag: "walk a day in my shoes". Or in the case of toll booth operators "lean a day in my shoes".
YES, up the tolls but automate them and reduce the state hacks standing there being overpaid as cashiers. If the money goes to the roads, OK. If it goes to the union demands then don't raise the tolls!
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No Income or Sales Tax
By Anonymous - 12/07/2008 - 9:09 pmThe Massachusetts turnpike is very expensive. Our tolls are pennies in comparison.
Up the tolls and I like the idea of others on this forum who want to build toll plaza's.
In state residents could get tolls at 1/2 price and out of state full price. WOW for quick money that is the solution.
But as one poster mentioned here, no general fund stuff with the toll money. It all gets earmarked for the infrastructure of bridges and highways. NO exceptions!
Therefore, Lynch and legislators....hands off the toll and gas tax money.
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Raise the tolls 25 cents, the gas tax 5 cents and set up tolls i
By Anonymous - 12/07/2008 - 7:29 pmWe have the lowest tolls in the Northeast so raise them....big deal. What is 25 cents.
5 cents on the gas tax? Yes raise it....no big deal.
Build new tolls at Salem on 93, Laconia on 93, Concord on 89 and Lebanon on 89. No big deal.
Now here is the BIG DEAL. All of that money MUST be collected and can not be added to the General Fund in Concord. Democratic legislators should not touch that money with their entitlement goals and the governor should not be allow to touch that money. It all would have to go to improving the infrastructure.
PROBLEM SOLVED! When will Governor Smiley Face and the legislature wake up and just do the right thing. Based on traffic flow, that revenue will add at least $125,000 daily to the coffers.....like I said.....PROBLEM SOLVED!
Next fiscal crisis point please! Let's solve that one!
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Get your head out of the sand, Monitor
By Anonymous - 12/07/2008 - 4:54 pmI was kinda with you right up until the end. But it was the last sentence that told me the Monitor has its collective head in a dark place.
Why is it that whenever a public agency's expenses exceed its revenue, the first cry we hear is "raise the revenue"? Hello! What about reducing the expenses?
There is plenty of fluff the DOT could take out of its budget before threatening to cut back on basic services like maintenance and plowing -- like mult-million dollar widening projects and rail projects and empty buses. The DOT needs to learn to prioritize.
The Monitor practices scare politics when it asserts that our only choices are either tax increases or a crumbling infrastructure. There are other choices.
We can have "good, well-maintained roads" within the current tax structure. It's the waste that we should no longer tolerate.
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Raise the tolls 25 cents
By Anonymous - 12/07/2008 - 9:33 amRaise the gas tax 5 cents and tolls 25 cents....problem solved. Also put a toll plaza at the border on 93 and 89.
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No Problem With 5 Cents but.....
By Anonymous - 12/07/2008 - 9:30 amLet's get some work out of state employees. The scene of 6 guys standing around one guy working is so true as I travel the state from stem to stern.
Also, why are we tackling projects like Londonderry and the change in 93 there? There are so many projects like that around the state. We should be fixing bridges and repaving....forget about widening, etc.
It is funny that under Meldrim Thomson we had the best roads in the nation. When you crossed the border to Massachusetts the roads got much worse. Today there is no difference. Of course, today entitlement spending is far greater and other pet projects are numerous.
Raise the gas tax but let's get an honest days work for an honest days pay out of state employees working on these projects. One more thing, under Lynch the State Police have been beefed up quite a bit. Many are on site at construction projects just sitting in their cars. Maybe we should have civilian flaggers instead!
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our roads are fine
By Anonymous - 12/07/2008 - 7:48 amIn fact, they are much better than roads in surrounding states and I like it that way. No one would suggest cutting down on salt or sand. That's absurd. Maybe we could put some road projects on hold for a year or two though. We just paid for a large re-paving project on Rt 202/9. I travel that road 5 days per week and, as far as I'm concerned, it did not need it. WHY IS THE MONITOR STAFF ALWAYS RECOMMENDING TAX INCREASES???
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Re;Good roads
By Anonymous - 12/07/2008 - 6:34 amThe state will wast most of the money. You must know the money will go to benifits for state employees. Oh they may spend some money on projects, but the increases in tax will go to the State first to fund the fat cats. are you stupid?
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