Emphasizing economic benefits that accrue from an effective and efficient transportation system, Missouri Department of Transportation authorities joined with business and political advocates Monday at the Mexico Area Chamber of Commerce, detailing recent improvements to the state's transportation infrastructure, while similarly outlining future needs.

Prefacing the meeting – officially termed the Mexico MTD Transportation Funding Summit – Kevin Keith, chief engineer of MoDOT, stated: "Over the last year or so, there have been a number of discussions about, 'We're going to have to do something about infrastructure in this state. We need to raise the resources.' But there was something missing in that discussion, because quite frankly it didn't gain any momentum. And that is, 'What do we need to do?'" As a result, he said corresponding interests – including the Missouri Transportation Development Council (MTD) trade organization, which co-sponsored the event with the city of Mexico – have opted to focus on future plans and benefits that could result courtesy of a forward-looking transportation agenda.
That vision includes further development of public transit services; continued traffic-related safety advances, including additional investment in interstate cable barriers; upgrades to passenger rail and freight systems, emphasizing improved on-time service; capital investments in ports along the state's waterways; potential private-public partnerships, such as toll roads and toll bridges; and continued upgrade of the state's bridges, and its variously-traveled roads.

Much of Monday's discussion focused on the latter concern, particularly centering on interstates which traverse the state, especially the I-70 and I-44 corridors.

Keith – joined in topical review by David Stokes of the Show-Me Institute economic policy think-tank, and Missouri senate transportation committee chairman Bill Stouffer (R-Napton) – specifically referenced Missouri's centralized geographic location. He noted there is a corresponding high rate of shipping across the state, thus impacting its highways.

Information provided by MoDOT states that the two interstates – each about 50 years old –  were designed to last 20 years. Added Keith: "We expect truck traffic to grow 25 percent on I-70, and as much as 30 percent on I-44. To give you some sense, a million more trucks a year on I-44 five years from now."

To address the issue of over-capacity on the interstates, one option discussed Monday regarded construction of dedicated truck lanes. According to the presenters, advantages would include improved delivery time, improved safety, increased carrying capacity by trucks, and greater passenger traffic flow on non-dedicated truck lanes.
Few in the audience expressed doubt about the obvious benefits of such a major undertaking, or other stated transportation objectives. But fiscal realities remain, and ultimately, Monday's discussion was pulled toward those considerations.

At the core is the fact that cost of multiple projects envisioned by MoDOT – while promoting safety and economic growth in the state – is currently estimated at approximately $1.57 billion per year for 20 years, without factoring for inflation. Further complicating the matter is a projected drop-off in available state revenue. In 2004, Missouri voters overwhelmingly approved a financing plan (Amendment 3) that directed additional highway user fees to MoDOT to fund road improvements statewide. However, the resultant bond financing revenue available under the plan is expected to abate near-term. MoDOT officials project the revenue level to drop from approximately $1.2 billion in the current fiscal year, to $600 million or less by 2010, resulting in fewer project and maintenance options.

The situation is likely to be further exacerbated by increasing construction costs, rising bond payments, decreasing federal revenue, and possible drop-off in state tax revenue due to a weakening economy.

Official plans on how to raise additional revenue have been not been finalized. But audience inquiries about a dedicated business tax or possible adjustments to the state's current fuel tax level (currently 17 cents per gallon) were summarily dismissed as non-starters by the officials. Likewise, Stouffer indicated he was lukewarm to an idea sponsored in the last legislative session by Sen. John Loudon (R-Chesterfield). Loudon had proposed allocating 10 percent of future growth in state revenues toward transportation concerns in the state. The MTD endorsed the measure, but the plan did not advance beyond committee.

Instead, on Monday, Stouffer floated the idea of eliminating Missouri's 17-cent fuel tax, offset by a two-cent hike in the state's current sales tax level (presently 4.225 cents).
"Let's think about what that would do for us," he said of the suggestion, which would require a voter mandate before implementation. "Any user fee, whether it's fuel tax, tolls, licenses – anything on the user's side, you pay for that with anything you buy. I tell you, the cities and counties are going to fight this, because they think that's their source. But I think we can help them out too in the process. But if you go to the sales tax, your food, your shelter, and your medicine are exempt from the sales tax, from that portion anyway. And so, if you're low-income folks, you've got a major portion ... is exempt. Everybody does."

The state senator added that "a fuel tax is the most regressive tax that low-income folks face," owing to the need to drive to jobs, to go shopping, etcetera.

Tom Groves, Audrain County's western district commissioner, said such an increase might not directly impact the county's coffers, but added: "The majority of that tax (the current 17-cent fuel tax), my thinking, is from people passing through Missouri. So they're not going to be paying tax at all" if it were to change. "The residents of Missouri are going to be paying all of it (a resultant sales tax increase), and the out-of-state people aren't going to be paying anything ... They (non-residents) aren't going to stop and buy a TV or a washing machine."