Connie Niva
Now that the governor is out with his most recent proposal for transportation, the nay-sayers and radio jockeys are in high gear railing against the idea of more taxes. It’s the same old story: If the Washington state Department of Transportation spent its money more efficiently, there’d be more than enough to build the backlog of projects.
Anyone out there interested in the facts instead of fiction?
Fiction: The current gas tax is more than enough to solve our transportation problems.
Fact: The last time the gas tax was raised was 1991. Accounting for inflation, the value of the gas tax has decreased. Even when you consider that population has increased 43 percent and vehicle traffic soared 88 percent in the past 20 years, the value of gas tax receipts, in real dollars, has gone down about 8 percent since 1991. Of the 23 cents collected, only about 12 cents goes to state highways and ferries. The remainder goes to cities and counties for their transportation problems. The gas tax can only be used for highways and ferry operations. Yet, 20-year needs in the Puget Sound area alone are somewhere in the range of $18 billion. Add billions more for the rest of the state and even Gov. Locke’s proposal seems small.
Fiction: Washington state has one of the highest gas taxes in the nation.
Fact: Washington state’s gas tax is 23rd in the nation. We are the lowest in the West Coast — California, Oregon, Utah, Montana, and British Columbia all have higher gas taxes than Washington.
Fiction: WSDOT is a bloated bureaucracy
Fact: There have been $5 million worth of performance audits of the DOT in the past 5 years as directed by the Legislature. In addition, the State Auditor’s Office employs seven auditors to check DOT’s books all year, every year. We always learn something and have implemented all proposals that do not require legislation. After spending millions to audit the department, wouldn’t taxpayers rather see their dollars build something than pay bean counters to repeat their work?
Fiction: WSDOT is not accountable
Fact: We realize that people aren’t satisfied with audit results alone, which is why Secretary Doug MacDonald has instituted "Measures, Markers and Mileposts," a quarterly report to detail WSDOT’s performance. Recent items have measured worker safety, construction and maintenance program delivery among others. Readers can find this report on the web at http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/GrayBook/GrayNotebook.pdf. Further, the Legislature didn’t get around to passing the bench marking proposals of the Blue Ribbon Commission. Benchmarking is the process by which you compare programs and performance against previous years or national standards. We think this concept is too important to ignore. So, the Transportation Commission is making it happen.
Fiction: DOT doesn’t contract out to the private sector:
Fact: Over two-thirds of the budget is spent on private companies who build all the department’s construction and repaving projects through a low-bid process.
Fiction: DOT has more employees than other state DOTs.
Fact: This could be, and, we are the only state DOT that moves 27 million people every year by ferry. We have multiple boats on routes in Puget Sound and the San Juans every day. It requires a lot of folks to make that happen.
I know that WSDOT has a long way to go to debunk many of the myths and misunderstandings out there. Secretary MacDonald and the Washington state Transportation Commission are committed to doing a better job of informing people about our efforts. So, you can either stay tuned for some facts (check that web page) or continue to listen to fiction. Your choice.
Connie Niva of Everett is a member of the Washington State Transportation Commission.
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