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State highway chief promotes general revenue as funding source for highway needs Friday, Jun 30, 2006 By Wesley Brown Arkansas News Bureau LITTLE ROCK - Arkansas highway officials commemorated the history of road construction Thursday with an eye on funding future highway needs from the state's general treasury. Officials view sales tax revenue and a burgeoning budget surplus as potential sources of new revenue to supplement motor fuel taxes to fund future upkeep of the Arkansas' interstate highways. "It may be time to consider other ways of funding road improvements," state Highway and Transportation Department Director Dan Flowers said at a ceremony commemorating the 50th anniversary of the nation's Interstate Highway System. President Dwight Eisenhower signed the Federal-Aid Highway Act into law June 29, 1956. The historic legislation funded construction of the country's original 41,000-mile interstate system. Flowers and other state and federal highway officials praised the efforts over five decades to build Arkansas' 655-mile interstate system during a ceremony held at AHTD headquarters, located in view of a busy section of I-30. The event was held in conjunction with similar observances across the country. Flowers and other speakers also used the event to express the need for future highway funding. In response to a reporter's question, Flowers said the revenue from the sales tax on gasoline, diesel and other motor fuels is flat, not generating enough funds for the department's ongoing highway repair program. He and state Highway Commission Chairman Prissy Hickerson also state highway officials are studying proposals for the 2007 legislative session that will look at new ways to fund Arkansas' road repair projects. "There has already been some talk about the surplus," Hickerson said, referring to the state's expected budget overflow of more than $550 million for fiscal 2006 and 2007. "We believe that will be a help, but we still have a lot of needs facing us." Flowers specifically cited the sales tax on car batteries and new and used vehicles as potential sources of new highway funding for highways. He said those revenue streams are related to the condition of state highways and are growing at a faster pace than the sales tax on motor fuels. Earlier, Flowers and a long list of dignitaries praised the 50-year old interstate highway system as the nation's largest engineering project and the backbone of the state's economy. "Arkansas can lay claim to the fact that we were the first state to complete our original allotment of interstate highway miles," the state highway director said. Brad Fryar, director of the Associated General Contractors of Arkansas, said construction of Arkansas' interstate system gave the state "an economic jolt that is still being felt today." After the original system was completed in 1975, Interstates 30, 40, 55, 430 and a small section of I-540 in Fort Smith made up the 525 miles of the highway network. Today, Interstates 440, 530 and 630 have added another 120 miles to a system that carries one-fourth of the state's motor traffic. State Rep. Johnny Bolin, D-Crossett, chairman of the House Transportation Committee, said now that the state has financed many of its educational needs, it needs to come up with a plan to fund future highway needs. "We put a lot of money in education, but we still have some catching up to do" on highways, he said. Bolin, prevented by term limits from seeking re-election this year and presented Thursday as the new director of Arkansas Good Roads/Transportation Council, said he hoped lawmakers would not back down from the challenge of developing a highway package in the 2007 session. Last year, Bolin and others proposed legislation backed by the Arkansas Highway Commission and Gov. Mike Huckabee that would have diverted about $149 million in sales taxes on vehicles to finance a $1 billion highway construction bond issue. The legislation won approval from Bolin's committee but never came to a vote in the House or Senate. Huckabee and the Highway Commission suffered a bruising defeat in a December special election when voters rejected a proposal to continue the $575 million bond program approved in 1999 to pay for improvement on the Arkansas' interstate highways. Voters also rejected a separate $250 million bond issue earmarked for higher education improvements. Carolyn Bonifas of TRIP, a nonprofit transportation research group in Washington, D.C., issued a report at the ceremony showing that Arkansas' transportation network is saving Arkansas residents $4.5 billion annually. Bonifas said the safety benefits, saved time and reduced fuel and lower consumer costs from better highways puts an extra $1,629 each year in the pocket of Arkansas citizens. "But without an additional investment in maintaining and expanding the system, the state may see some of those benefits slip away," she cautioned. Bonifas said travel on Arkansas interstates is expected to jump by 40 percent by the year 2026. She said Arkansas will need to spend $4.4 billion over that period to widen 185 miles of urban and rural interstate lanes to ease growing traffic congestion. Lane Kidd, president of the Arkansas Trucking Association, said his group's board would oppose any transfer of general revenue funds to the Highway Commission. The trucking group was the main opponent of the December ballot proposal for highways. "Of course, the board would look at any new proposals in the upcoming session," Kidd said. "But current policy would be that we would oppose it." |
