Fight Over Tolls Showcases Virginia GOP Error on Gas Tax

Click image to enlarge.

UPDATED 3-19-2012: The Virginian Pilot has another story that makes it clear that the negative impact of tolls will be a regional problem. And again, the question to be asked is why Hampton Roads Interstates are being singled out for tolls unlike the rest of Virginia.

One of Governor Ultrasound McDonnell's other "big ideas" that is beginning to cause troubled waters in Hampton Roads is his love of so-called "public-private partnerships" that would build long over due highway improvements in the region by places economy killing tolls on bridges and tunnels. The idea rates right up there with Governor Ultrasound's idea of "government so small it fits in a woman's uterus." While only the Downtown and Midtown Tunnels are currently slated for tolls, the scheme eventually would put tolls on numerous more interstate bridges and tunnels - even though no other interstate highways in Virginia are similarly burdened. In short, Hampton Roads is slated to be f*cked over royally compared to other regions in Virginia. It's all part of the GOP's mantra of never raising taxes no matter what - even though the gasoline tax was last raised 25 years ago. The Virginian Pilot looks at the situation with the gas tax and the impact of tolls on local residents who must use tunnels and brides compared to the impact of modest increases in the gasoline tax. Here are some highlights:

The Midtown Tunnel project has revived a debate about the state's gas tax and triggered a fresh round of questions: Why hasn't the tax - a key source of road money - been raised in 25 years, a time span exceeded only by Alaska? And why, if Virginia has the seventh-lowest gas tax in the nation, are our pump prices in the middle of the pack?

With the uproar over tolls rocking Hampton Roads, the answers are more relevant than ever. Since the first dirt road acquired a coat of asphalt, citizens have argued about how to pay for it. Each of us contributes to the cause every time we gas up, paying a tax that's embedded in the price. Part of it goes to the federal government for interstates and the like, and the rest to the states for their own roadways.

But both funds fall shorter by the year, sapped by an aging transportation network, escalating construction costs and a refusal to allow the tax rate to keep up.

Virginia hasn't hiked its rate since 1987, a flat tax of 17.5 cents per gallon (plus a 0.06 cent storage tank fee) that's been whittled by inflation to about 8 cents. "Imagine if you hadn't had a pay raise in 25 years," said Tamara Rollison, a spokeswoman at VDOT. "You've got dwindling dollars to take care of ever-increasing needs."

$10 billion a year is being lost to stagnant rates. With a 10-cent hike, Virginia would bank an extra $500 million a year, while costing the typical driver just under $8 a month. Tolls, on the other hand, swap a smaller, shared pain for a bigger burden on individuals - often those who can afford it the least. The Midtown deal will cost commuters nearly $1,000 a year to travel between the two poorest cities in South Hampton Roads.

[L]ogic says a low gas tax should be mirrored at the pump. But that's not the case, at least not statewide. On AAA's Daily Fuel Gauge Report, Virginia prices routinely rank in the midrange - even though 43 of those states have a higher gas tax. . . . .Where does the extra money go? "I don't know the answer to that," said Bill Bush at the American Petroleum Institute.

I represent a number of gasoline retailers and they're not making tons of money from retail sales, so one does have to ask where is the money going? Another question to ask is whether all gasoline tax revenues end up going to highway construction and maintenance? Virginia is notorious for shifting revenue streams from the supposedly dedicated use to other purposes - typically without admitting the monetary slight of hand.

Click image to enlarge.