Chris Evers 727-638-1699 Let’s fix funding!. Let’s Fix Funding! “It ain’t the heat, it’s...
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Transcript of Chris Evers 727-638-1699 Let’s fix funding!. Let’s Fix Funding! “It ain’t the heat, it’s...
Chris Evers727-638-1699
Let’s fix funding!
Let’s Fix Funding!
“It ain’t the heat, it’s the humility.”
“When you come to a fork in the road, take it.”
Yogi Berra, New York Yankees
1 How do we currently fund our roads
How much actually gets to the road2
3
4
Panel Discussion
How do we fix funding and when
Let’s fix funding strategy
Florida Department of Transportation
FLORIDA’S HIGHWAYS
• State Highway System (FDOT Maintained)– State Roads, US & Interstate Highways– 12,116 centerline miles– 6,783 bridges– 54% of all traffic
• Local Governments:– 107,674 centerline miles– 5,091 bridges
• Federal Government:– 2,315 centerline miles– 290 bridges
• State Highway System (FDOT Maintained)– State Roads, US & Interstate Highways– 12,116 centerline miles– 6,783 bridges– 54% of all traffic
• Local Governments:– 107,674 centerline miles– 5,091 bridges
• Federal Government:– 2,315 centerline miles– 290 bridges
2013 U.S. Infrastructure Needs
ASCE 2013 Report Card
How do we currently fund our roads?
State Transportation RevenueFiscal Year 2013-14
Florida Department of Transportation
STATE TRANSPORTATION TRUST FUND
Receipts (Millions)
State Transportation Trust Fund
$6,348
Motor Vehicle Fees $939
Miscellaneous Revenue,
Reimbursements/Participations, Interest
$604
Rental Car Surcharge
$124
Aviation Fuels $36
Documentary Stamps
$271
Federal Aid Reimbursement
$2,432
Fuel Taxes $1,943
Work Program
Local Government spending
How are we funding roads?
How are we funding roads?
How are we funding roads?
How are we funding roads?
How are we funding roads?
Locally Imposed Fuel TaxesDistributed to Local Governments
$0
$100
$200
$300
$400
$500
$600
$700
$800
$900
$1,000
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
$ in
Mill
ions 9th Cent
Local Option
Actual through fiscal year 2014, 2015 through 2020 based on Spring 2015 Revenue Estimating Conference
Untapped Locally Imposed Fuel Taxes
$0
$50
$100
$150
$200
$250
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
$ in
Mill
ions
9th Cent
Local Option
Actual through fiscal year 2014, 2015 through 2020 based on Spring 2015 Revenue Estimating Conference
Local Option Sales Tax Charter County Transportation System Surtax –
approved by vote of citizens 31 counties are eligible to levy the surtax Duval, Walton, and Miami-Dade have enacted
Local Government Infrastructure Surtax All counties eligible to levy the surtax, 18 have enacted
Small County Surtax 31 counties eligible to levy the surtax, 29 have enacted
http://edr.state.fl.us/Content/ to find the Counties that have implemented the tax as of 2015
How are we funding roads?
Impact of indexing fuel sales tax
Roads vs. AT&TAverage driver logs 12,000 miles per year @ 24 mpg
Average driver uses 500 gallons per year
In Hillsborough County they pay $0.50 per gallon
Average Driver pays $250/yr or just over $20 a month
The argument goes that an extra $0.05/gal or $2/month would anger the electorate
How much gets to the road?
How much gets to the road?• Statewide we really don’t know• When I looked for the answer I found that the figures were too broad
to be sure• We don’t do a very good job of tracking expenditures• What I did find was this:
– Many agencies seem to have trouble funneling money down to the project level– Some agencies have depended on fuel taxes to fund operations (Statutory intent
ignored?)– The amount of asphalt use in the State has dropped dramatically (easiest way to
track since 97% of roads are asphalt) about 40% drop since 2006– Disconnect between statutory intent and practice– Huge unfunded needs that could be met with shift in either policy or attitudinal
shift, both– Many of the non-transportation budget items actually are dependent on quality
and safe infrastructure
Historical FDOT Asphalt Tonnages
Historical Florida Asphalt Tonnages
Florida Department of Transportation
Historical Statewide Performance
$0
$50
$100
$150
$200
$250
$300
$350
$400
$450
$500
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
$ in
Mill
ions
Veterans Programs
SEED Transfers
Agriculture
DEP & GFC
Tourism & Trade
Admin Charges
GR Service Charges
GR Fund Transfers
Education
Transportation Revenue Used For Non-Transportation Purposes
Actual through fiscal year 2014, 2015 through 2020 based on Spring 2015 Revenue Estimating Conference
How do we fix it and when?
The answer should be now• Gas prices have dropped significantly in the
last year• Even in DC attitudes towards increasing the
gas tax have softened• Is indexing looked at the same as raising taxes?
It shouldn’t be!• We may have a window to act but need to come
up with a game plan• What I did find was this:
– What’s good for the goose? State fuel taxes are indexed while Federal and Local are not
– Statutes could be more clear and have more teeth– Political Engineering will be required to increase
local fuel taxes
Gas Prices have dropped significantly
Revenue Stream Challenge:The Future of Fuel Tax
Various market pressures are driving up average vehicular fuel efficiencies
Alternative fuels are exempt from fuel taxes (CNG)
Corporate fuel economy standards for new cars will increase from 35.5 MPG in 2016 to 54.5 MPG in 2025
The average driver will pay less for use of the roadway network in the future Fuel taxes paid decrease as fuel efficiency increases
The fuel tax will become a less sustainable and less equitable fee for road use
Graphing the bad news
Revenue Stream Challenge:The Future of Fuel Tax
Let’s fix funding strategy
Public Opinion
What’s the public perception of our roads?
Public Opinion
Public Opinion
Politics – Funding in Florida• Out of 67 Counties only 22 have zero unutilized
County-Imposed gas tax
• Using Hillsborough as an example with 3,318 centerline miles (7,700 lane miles) of paved road their $3M resurfacing budget puts them on a 148 year paving cycle
• That additional 5¢ would generate nearly $30M per year which would wipe out their funding shortfall
• Madison County has 242 centerline miles, industry standard is 20 year paving cycle meaning Madison County should be paving at least 12 miles per year expending $1,815,000
• Instead the County was operating with a 61 year paving cycle
• Madison County purchases a piece of equipment costing $46,851,200– This piece of equipment is vital to all
economic activity in the County– Other tax revenue would not exist without
this equipment– Not investing in upkeep costs every taxpayer
in the County (19,115) since every single taxpayer uses it
– If we let this piece of equipment completely deteriorate it, a new one could cost us as much as 10 times what we paid for it
Communicating with Stakeholders
Communicating with Stakeholders
Important to use everyday examples, analogies
Preventative Medicine is the model we want to shoot for
In infrastructure, the longer we wait the bigger the bill
When you brush your teeth, do you brush only the worst teeth
Why then would we only address the worst roads
What can we do?
• Admit we have a problem and define it– As an industry and a community we should discuss the
issue and begin to mobilize
• Engage elected officials and taxpayers– Continue the education process any way possible whether
that means engaging with legislators, writing editorials or having these panels
• Find partners and champions– We all know folks who can help, private trade organizations
who benefit from added spending (FES, FICE, FTBA, ASCE) other public works organizations (APWA, FACERS)
What can we do?• Some fixes exist at the County level and will benefit the Cities
within the County– Let’s get all of the PWD’s together and game plan how to get the
unutilized gas tax money utilized
• Statutory fixes may also be required– Work with Tallahassee to index the fuel taxes that are distributed to
local governments
• Educate decision makers on the impact ill advised policy has on our roadway health– What are Counties waiting for relating to unimposed?– Are local agencies allocating fuel tax funding to operations? Hint: (not
supposed to!) – Does management know that not maxing out fuel taxes could cost
matching funds from FDOT?
So what harm comes of asking? They might say yes…
But haven’t we failed before?• We’ve tried some of these approaches
before so how do we succeed this time? • We change the conversation, use our
recess voice and explain the true scope of the problem
• We recruit a champion before hand• Get creative with presenting our material
The time to prepare for the future of transportation is now
SELF DRIVING CARS
SELF DRIVING CARSHuge opportunity • Dependent on smooth pavements• Reduction in capacity requirements• Game changer in productivity,
healthcare etc.
Our Nation’s most valuable asset
“It was not our wealth that made our highways possible; rather it was our highways that made our wealth possible” Thomas MacDonald,
former U.S. Commissionerof Public Roads
Chris Evers727-638-1699
Let’s fix funding!