Everyone who lives in a city or a county who drives or rides in a car (that’s about everyone) should be concerned about this.
As I have previously reported, a proposal by certain representatives of the Administration has potentially misled legislators into believing it’s o.k. to vote to take the local share of the Highway Users Tax Account (HUTA) and Prop. 42 gas tax funds from cities and counties.
The justification statement goes something like this: "Counties/Cities will be receiving American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA-federal stimulus) funds anyways — which should be more than what we will be taking from Counties".
This claim is misleading, to put it mildly. Take the case of San Bernardino County alone, which stands to lose (just for its unincorporated areas), 61% of what it costs to operate and maintain 2,775 miles of roads. That is $47 million (HUTA take) and $7 million (Prop. 42 six-month deferral). The same unincorporated areas will receive only $5.8 million in ARRA federal stimulus funds.
This means they’re planning to take ten times what stimulus could theoretically backfill, even if you assume that the feds will allow stimulus funds to be used on repairs and maintenance (which is highly unlikely).
Here’s a link to a letter that was sent today from the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors to the county’s legislative delegation and the Big Five.
I suggest that anyone who lives in a city or a county (which, again, is all of us) look at this letter and study the potential impacts to roads in your area. Then let your elected representatives know if you agree with the proposed raid on local road funds.