Will Kansans have to pay even more for gasoline to fund highway projects?

An increase in the fuel tax is one funding option identified by the Kansas Department of Transportation in a preliminary report released this week outlining the state's future highway infrastructure needs.

KDOT says $58 billion will be needed over the next 20 years to fund highway construction and improvement programs. If the expenditures in the report are all approved, the money will have to come from somewhere.

But where is the big question, since the transportation plan and its healthy price-tag come at an inopportune time for legislators and Gov. Kathleen Sebelius. State leaders are  already pondering how to close a looming budget shortfall.

State budget director Duane Goossen has indicated that if current trends persist, Kansas will face a $188 million budget shortfall in 2010, and of $400 million in 2011.

In the report, KDOT said it recognized that funding may not be available to finance the entire wish list, and that the report represents a starting point for discussions.

The report also does not identify specific projects to be funded – that task lies with the Legislature – but it does lay out general funding goals that include:

• $700 million a year on expanding highway capacity;
• $300 million a year on highway and bridge preservation projects;
• $210 million a year to widen highways and add shoulders;
• $175 million a year for some form of public transit;
• $15 million a year for bike-hike trails;
• $1 billion a year to assist local governments with road needs.

KDOT also stressed that it would be up to the Legislature to identify what additional funding mechanisms, if any, should be implemented to help fund the program.

Options, according to KDOT, include an increase in the gas tax, which is likely to receive a cool reception in Topeka with gas hovering at about $4 a gallon. A tax on vehicle sales, with receipts dedicated to highway improvements also could be implemented, as could a system of toll roads.

Rep. Virgil Peck, a Tyro Republican who is vice-chair of the House Transportation Committee, said, given the current economic climate, it was very unlikely that the Legislature would be open to raising general taxes to fund a vast new transportation program.

While Peck said he supports reasonable infrastructure development, and that highway improvements are good for commerce and provide some economic stimulus during construction. However, he said: “It’s going to be hard for the Legislature to sell anything to the people that will increase everyone’s taxes.”

He said, in deference to motorists struggling to cope with $4 a gallon gasoline, he would oppose any increase in the gas tax to fund highway improvements, as would most legislators. He also said he thought a dedicated tax on vehicle sales was unlikely to advance in the Legislature.

Peck said there might be more support in the Legislature for toll roads.

“There’s been some discussion of that,” he said, “and a lot of states are looking at the same thing. Toll roads would probably be a lot more palatable to Kansans than the other options, because in effect it’s a user fee instead of a general tax increase. The people who drive on the road pay; those who don’t use it don’t.”

The Kansas Chapter of Americans for Prosperity called on the Legislature and KDOT to include cost-benefit analyses of highway projects before they commence.

“Kansas taxpayers fund about $1 billion per year in road-related spending, even though the state has no process for prioritizing the construction projects,” said Alan Cobb, the group’s executive director. “Simply providing a cost-benefit analysis is a responsible way for the department of transportation to ensure accountability in government spending on highway construction projects.”