Transportation plan has 'lures' to get support

When the government wants to take money from taxpayers, the first thing that is required is the right "lure" - much like a fisherman finds the right lure to attract fish.
 
In the case of taxes, the lure is usually some perceived benefit the taxpayer will receive, whether it be in the form of financial assistance or a special project the public may want. Once the taxpayer is hooked on the benefit, the increased cost to them is easier to swallow.
 
A local example would be the proposed arena. If the public can be convinced it is beneficial to them  and worth the extra money they will pay, it will probably go forward. If that benefit ratio isn't clear, then the opposite is likely true.
 
At the state level, a new example has emerged - a proposed increase in the state sales tax to pay for a massive 30-year-long road and public transportation program for Arizona.
 
A coalition of business and public groups support putting a measure on this fall's ballot to increase Arizona's current 5.6 percent sales tax to 6.6 percent, beginning in 2010, to cover the cost of the $42.6 billion plan. Governor Janet Napolitano has been a leading proponent of the proposed tax.
 
One of the methods being used to sell the idea is a listing of possible projects around the state that would be funded under the program, ranging from new roads to rebuilding roads to public transportation, including intercity rail transportation.
 
As reported in The Sun this week, that distribution of money could include projects in Yuma County worth $769 million. That figure is significant because it is $1 million more than the estimated amount Yuma County residents would pay under the sales tax increase.
 
In other words, the money would supposedly all be spent right here rather that on some grandiose scheme to link Phoenix and Tucson with a rail line or to build freeways in Phoenix. And for Yuma County Board of Supervisors Chairman Greg Ferguson, that is important.
 
He was leery of the sales tax idea when it was originally announced in April, seeing it as a bad deal for Yuma County residents. At that time he had been told the county's share of the gravy bowl would only be about $144 million, far less than what county residents contributed.
 
He seemed more favorable to the idea in our story this week, although still not completely trusting the higher figure. "If you read the initiative, it's not broken out," Ferguson told The Sun. "There's nothing in writing that guarantees anything."
 
He also expressed doubts about whether a sales tax hike is the right approach to fund this work. Traditionally, roads have been financed by fuel taxes and vehicle fees, which are considered to be more like "user fees" because they directly benefit the users of the roads.
 
The catch is the public transportation and the rail lines. The state constitution limits the fuel taxes to road projects - which is probably fine with the majority of Arizonans who prefer to drive instead of using other means of transportation.
 
Another concern of supporters of the sales tax is that a fuel tax wouldn't raise nearly as much money. After all, people tend to buy lots of other things they pay sales taxes on than they do fuel.
 
Nevertheless, the fairest way to fund roads and transportation is for actual users to pay for it. By taxing fuel, it is likely that the direct users of the roadways pay for them. That should be the goal for other transportation efforts - let the direct users pay and benefit rather than shifting the burden to taxpayers in general, as happens with a sales tax increase.
 
Maybe the problem isn't so much that these "user fees" don't generate enough money, but that the plan for a massive transportation program is overly ambitious. Scale it back to fit the ability to pay for it.
  
If sales tax support is essential, then instead of increasing the tax, why not reduce other public spending so than current revenues can be shifted to transportation needs, if that is indeed a high priority?
 
This fall, if the measure actually gets on the ballot, voters need to look beyond the transportation plan sales pitch that will promise great benefits. The cost to taxpayers also needs to be factored in.


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Terry Ross is editor of The Sun. E-mail him at tross@yumasun.com or phone him at 539-6870.