Effective January 1st, Georgia's motor fuel tax has been cut by 4 cents, but the state still needs money for road improvements.

Here's a video from Atlanta's WSB-TV regarding the tax cut and its impact on road funds.

... and here's an article from the Macon Telegraph regarding GDOT's road plans.

I've already gone on and on regarding how Georgia has been spending too much money on the so-called "developmental highway" (or GRIP) projects for 4-laning roads that are scarcely used (i.e. US 27/GA 1 in northwest Georgia).

As for funding road projects, I really do not want to see Georgia turning toward tolls and so-called "public-private partnerships", yet we Georgia folks need to get the money (estimates of $150,000,000,000 to $250,000,000,000 according to GDOT) for much needed improvment projects, including, but not limited to, upgrading the I-16/I-75 interchange in Macon and the US 411 Connector in Cartersville.

Last night, I watched the 1989 movie "UHF", starring Weird Al Yankovic. In the movie, the main character, George Newman (played by Yankovic), gets the job of station manager of a dumpy little UHF TV station (Channel 62). With the help of the station's screwball janitor Stanley Spadowski (played by Michael "Kramer" Richards), the station becomes extremely popular with local viewers, even beating out the rival network affiliate (Channel 8). However, the station's owner, Stanley's uncle, loses big on the horses and needs $75,000 to pay off gambling debts. The evil rival Channel 8 wants to buy Channel 62 so that he could destroy it, but George wants to buy it instead. As a result, they hold a telethon, selling viewers $10 shares in the process. Hmmm... could Georgia put together a statewide telethon called "Road Aid" and implore viewers to donate money toward road improvements? Perhaps they could use sad stories like parents who were unable to attend their children's games or recitals due to being stuck in traffic. Do you think anyone would go for such an idea? I doubt it, but it would blow my mind to see such a telethon broadcast simultaneously on every Georgia TV station.

But seriously, folks...

The 2009 Georgia General Assembly will soon convene under "the gold dome:" and I hope our lawmakers on both sides of the aisle will address the funding issue. Here are some ideas I'd like for them to consider...

IDEA #1 - REVOKE THE 4-CENT FUEL TAX CUT:
Immediately reinstate the 4 cents that Governor Sonny Perdue removed. Given that the price of "sweet crude" has plummeted and that retali gasoline prices have plummeted from $4.00/gallon to $1.50/gallon, I see Perdue's move as more of a "shot in the foot" than a benefit to the consumers. In other words, the free market did a lot more to lower gas prices than the government.

IDEA #2 - LICENSE PLATE FEE INCREASE:
Add an additional $2.00 per license plate for road improvement purposes. As an incentive to county and city governments, half of it could stay locally for their own road projects, while the other half goes directly in an savings account-style interest-bearing state fund earmarked for road improvements statewide. Said fund should carry a stipluation that no politician should use it as a "pork barrel" toward funding non-essential road widening.

IDEA #3:- REGIONAL 1% ROAD IMPROVEMENT SALES TAX:
Allow regions of the state (i.e. the 28 counties in the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta Metropolitan Statistical Area according to the U.S. Census Bureau's November, 2007, MSA listings)  to vote on a regional one percent (1%) sales tax earmarked for any regional transportation needs. If passed by the voters of said region, funds should be placed in an interest-bearing state fund solely for said region's benefit.

Hopefully, the incoming Obama administration will encourage Congress to grant Georgia $2,000,000,000 in road improvement economic stimulus money and do likewise for the rest of the U.S.

For several years, Georgia has had among the best roads in the United States, but still, there are roads and bridges that are either woefully inadequate for the current traffic loads they must bear or are otherwise in need of good preventative maintenance.
Regardless of how you look at it, Georgia's economy depends on good roads, from the local thoroughfares to the existing 1294 miles of Interstate highways. If we do not get the much-needed funds and wisely spend them wherever needed in Georgia, then we will all suffer in the end.

GDOT Commissioner Gena Evans, Governor Sonny Perdue, Lt. Governor Casey Cagle, House Speaker Glenn Richardson, and all members of the Georgia General Assembly regardless of political party, please take my ideas and any other ideas that my fellow Georgians offer into consideration and ask yourselves these questions in the process...

- Do we want a disaster like the I-35W bridge collapse in Minneapolis?

- Do we, as individuals, want to spend more on personal vehicle maintenace due to damage caused by driving on ill-maintained roads?

- Would we rather pay now for much needed road improvements... or pay much, much more later if and when things really go wrong?

As a Georgia taxpayer and voter, I ask all our state's elected and appointed officials to put aside any and all partisan differences aside and take advantage of this upcoming General Assembly session to pass legislation that will benefit Georgia's transportation infrastructure and ultimately the millions of Georgia highway users. Thank you in advance for taking my thoughts into consideration and may this upcoming General Assembly session be fruitful for all Georgians.

Finally, I encourage you, my dear readers, to offer your own ideas to our leaders at all levels of government, plus hold them accordingly accountable. After all, the November turnout for the Presidential elections were amazing, so now that we have spoken at the ballot box, it's time for us, the American people, to follow through and make sure they work in our best interests.

That's it for now. Thanks for reading and please visit often.

        

 

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