According to Rep. Bobby Harrell, chairman of the S.C. House Ways and Means Committee, writing in The Gazette on Sunday, a third of state-maintained roads are in poor condition resulting in higher operating costs for vehicle owners. According to the S.C. Department of Transportation, the state's 27,000 miles of secondary roads are the most dangerous place in the state to drive. About 1,000 people die on state roads each year, 50 percent above the national average.
Harrell, R-Charleston, is correct that it is past time for the state to make necessary improvements. Not only are too many people dying, but as traffic congestion exacerbated by population growth continues over the next 20 years, the accident rate is likely to grow unless a major investment is made.
Harrell and his peers want to create the "2005 Trust Fund for Maintenance of South Carolina Roads." The $85 million to $90 million annual investment would come from a reallocation of existing fees and taxes.
The fund is just a shifting of money from one pot to another without a permanent solution. Transportation Department executives projected last month that the rate of population growth, coupled with continued tourism development, will result in a $36 billion revenue shortfall to build and maintain roads over the next two decades. That translates into an additional $1.8 billion each.
Before the legislature signs off on this proposal, lawmakers should consider several others that have been offered as potential solutions.
Last month DOT launched a promotion of a $15 per-axel fee, which translates into $30 per car per year, to help alleviate the crisis.
In December, too, state Sen. Scott Richardson, R-Hilton Head Island, unveiled a plan to charge the 45 oil companies operating in South Carolina a 5 percent annual tax, which would generate $268 million. He would use half of that for road maintenance.
Another proposal would increase the state's 16-cents a gallon gasoline tax. According to the S.C. Chamber of Commerce an 8-cent per-gallon increase on gasoline and a 5-cent per-gallon tax on diesel fuel would generate an additional $206 million.
Lastly, Gov. Mark Sanford dislikes giving DOT more money for roads until highway commissioners revamp priority setting for road paving to eliminate politics from the mix, but this would be only half the showdown. The governor likely would oppose any fee increases.
In the meantime, South Carolina expects an additional million people in the next quarter century. Half of those probably will live in the state's eight-county coastal plain. The state has major problems ahead and the General Assembly must address the issue with some form of revenue generation in 2005.
It may be time to consider some form of tax increase instead of shifting money from one pot to another.