Gregoire: Public will need to pay more for roads
OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) - Gov. Chris Gregoire wants a new source of revenue to pay for transportation projects, warning Monday that Washington state doesn't have the money for key expansions or road upkeep in the years to come.
New taxes, fees and tolls would be among the options on the table as state leaders explore ways to pay for growing transportation needs. Gregoire is forming an advisory panel that will help develop a plan to take to voters next year.
"I think the public sees the need, and I think they'll be willing to step up to it," Gregoire said.
Transportation packages approved in 2003 and 2005 increased the gas tax and other fees for a series of projects around the state. But those ongoing tax collections will now largely go toward debt payments on the ventures, which totaled about $15 billion.
Meanwhile, there are major projects around the state that still need cash. That includes the 520 bridge linking Seattle and Bellevue, the Interstate 5 crossing over the Columbia River and the North Spokane corridor. The state is also in search of new revenue to support the ferry system, which faces a projected shortfall of $1 billion over the next decade.
The 2003 and 2005 tax increases also didn't fund general road maintenance. Gregoire warned that pavement conditions around the state are poised to plummet in the years to come unless voters are willing to commit funds to preserving quality.
"We have got to show people across the state that if we don't invest in that, there are significant consequences," Gregoire said. She spoke during the signing of a transportation budget for the coming two-year budget cycle. Lawmakers have called it a bare bones plan.
Gregoire's pitch for new money is coming at the same time that initiative guru Tim Eyman is pressing to make it more difficult for the state to raise highway tolls. The two sides could end up with competing proposals on the 2012 ballot, with Eyman pushing a new initiative that would require the Legislature - and not the unelected state Transportation Commission - to set highway tolls.
Eyman believes lawmakers violated that requirement in the current transportation budget by re-delegating the ability to set toll rates to the commission, which is appointed by the governor. He said that voters are frustrated by the maneuver and may be less willing to consider the governor's pitch.
"The only way you're ever going to get the voters to give you more money is if they trust you," he said.
New taxes, fees and tolls would be among the options on the table as state leaders explore ways to pay for growing transportation needs. Gregoire is forming an advisory panel that will help develop a plan to take to voters next year.
"I think the public sees the need, and I think they'll be willing to step up to it," Gregoire said.
Transportation packages approved in 2003 and 2005 increased the gas tax and other fees for a series of projects around the state. But those ongoing tax collections will now largely go toward debt payments on the ventures, which totaled about $15 billion.
Meanwhile, there are major projects around the state that still need cash. That includes the 520 bridge linking Seattle and Bellevue, the Interstate 5 crossing over the Columbia River and the North Spokane corridor. The state is also in search of new revenue to support the ferry system, which faces a projected shortfall of $1 billion over the next decade.
The 2003 and 2005 tax increases also didn't fund general road maintenance. Gregoire warned that pavement conditions around the state are poised to plummet in the years to come unless voters are willing to commit funds to preserving quality.
"We have got to show people across the state that if we don't invest in that, there are significant consequences," Gregoire said. She spoke during the signing of a transportation budget for the coming two-year budget cycle. Lawmakers have called it a bare bones plan.
Gregoire's pitch for new money is coming at the same time that initiative guru Tim Eyman is pressing to make it more difficult for the state to raise highway tolls. The two sides could end up with competing proposals on the 2012 ballot, with Eyman pushing a new initiative that would require the Legislature - and not the unelected state Transportation Commission - to set highway tolls.
Eyman believes lawmakers violated that requirement in the current transportation budget by re-delegating the ability to set toll rates to the commission, which is appointed by the governor. He said that voters are frustrated by the maneuver and may be less willing to consider the governor's pitch.
"The only way you're ever going to get the voters to give you more money is if they trust you," he said.
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