Return to story

We don't need to take any more of your money to do a better job

March 7, 2006 12:50 am

DURING MY MILITARY career, I learned the art of bartering in local marketplaces from Syria to South Korea. It required patience and the ability to see a deal for what it was worth. So, too, Virginians must decide which of the three competing transportation plans to support, as the General Assembly and the governor struggle to address our transportation issues.

When Gov. Tim Kaine was a candidate, he stressed his opposition to tax hikes for transportation until the Transportation Trust Fund was constitutionally protected from raids by other spending.

In fact, five days prior to the election, Kaine said, "I'm not going to be in for tax increases because we did it in 2004 and we're going to have to live within our means" (Nov. 3, 2005, Tim Kaine on WRVA-AM radio in Richmond).

But he promptly submitted a $3 billion tax hike, knowing well we were far from completing the process to constitutionally protect the TTF.

Not to be outdone, the Senate submitted a $4 billion tax boost that exceeds the gargantuan $1.5 billion it passed in 2004. "It worked then, why not again?" they're reasoning.

Nevermind that we have a $1.4 billion surplus right now.

Nevermind that the surplus in the past 30 days has been revised upward $163 million dollars by the Kaine administration.

Nevermind that since 2004, Virginia's surplus has grown to over $3 billion, not including recent tax increases.

Never mind that people have to sell their homes in Northern Virginia because they are being priced out of them by soaring property assessments and taxes.

Bottom line: Gov. Kaine and the Senate want you to pay more.

But the House of Delegates has a better idea. We have introduced our comprehensive transportation plan that: (1) manages growth in a sensible manner; (2) transforms how transportation serv-ices are organized, planned, and delivered; and (3) makes a major investment by dedicating and sustaining revenue for targeted solutions that actually reduce congestion and increase mobility--without raising taxes.

In regard to growth, we are enacting better land-use reforms, as well as improving how localities create comprehensive plans in coordination with VDOT. We are expanding local ability to collect cash proffers from developers to help pay for roads.

We are adding to our popular "transportation matching fund" that helps localities build roads faster.

In reforming VDOT, the House plan increases private-public partnerships, provides for more cost-effective and time-saving procurement methods, expedites new technologies to improve traffic capacity, makes dangerous drivers pay for the negative effect they have on traffic, and creates more legislative oversight of how VDOT spends our money.

More importantly, the House plan increases funding for transportation by over $2 billion in the next four years--without raising taxes amid major surplus growth. This additional $2 billion builds on the $9 billion we already have in this and the next bienniums, bringing our total investment to over $20 billion in four years.

And in Northern Virginia, we have directed $215 million of that $2 billion to a revolving bond fund that will support $673 million in targeted transportation improvements in our region--an idea that incorporates my HB 1436.

The political rhetoric will be intense in the next few weeks. First, you will hear that we can't afford to use debt to finance capital construction. That's bunk. We by law must have a balanced budget in Virginia, and do.

That said, we aren't even close to our annually acceptable debt load, and we won't be under the House plan. People who play "Chicken Little" with the debt argument have no problem going into debt for university construction and state parks. Using some of our debt capacity for roads is neither unprecedented nor bad.

Second, the high-tax lobby will say that the House plan doesn't go far enough. Unfortunately, they fail to comprehend that a low-tax environment creates the actual surpluses that we are able to use--now--on the transportation projects in this budget. Low taxes increase revenues by promoting business investment and personal spending.

Third, the high-tax lobby will say the House plan robs rural areas. That may be the biggest distortion of all. In fact, under the House plan, transportation funding actually increases in rural areas even while we are making record investments in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads.

Finally, the pro-tax chorus will sing its familiar tune that the House plan threatens other funding such as education and health care. Wrong again. The House budget provides almost $12 billion for K-12 education, an increase of $1.6 billion over current levels.

It provides $137 million for Virginia's research institutions of higher education, and $200 million in new funding for the Chesapeake Bay.

So beware when assessing the plans. Some are based on broken promises. Some are based on breaking your bank. But the House plan recognizes that at a time of record surpluses, government should not be asking you for more money when wise reforms and better spending priorities will achieve our purpose.

DEL. L. SCOTT LINGAMFELTER, a retired Army colonel, represents Prince William and Fauquier counties in the Virginia House of Delegates, and serves on the House Finance Committee.