
Taxpayers aren’t to blame for California’s crumbling roads
Dan Walters, columnist for the Sacramento Bee,wrote on Monday about California’s crumbling roads, highways and streets. Anyone with a car and a driver’s license knows Walters is right; our roads are a mess! And when compared to other states (which Walters did, having just returned from a road trip in the Northwestern states) the condition of our roads is inexcusable.
But I disagree with Walters’ assertion that our transportation infrastructure is in shambles because drivers don’t pay enough gas taxes.
With heavy use, the system needs, but is not getting, an extremely high level of maintenance to stave off deterioration. The gasoline tax, levied on gallonage, hasn’t been changed for many years. And because of greater fuel efficiency, the amount of gas being consumed has increased very little even as travel has increased sharply. Moreover, this flat revenue is being eroded by inflation.
Also on Monday, the California Taxpayers’ Association reported that the Board of Equalization released a report showing… Read More