State mulls plans for funding transit
Herbert warns Utah faces a $3.5 million shortfall on projects
Speaking Thursday to local officials and transportation planners, Lt. Gov. Gary Herbert said the state faces a $3.5 million shortfall for funding road and transit projects planned over the next 10 years.
With no money to build those projects, congestion will only worsen, he said. It will impact quality of life — and the state's overall economic health.
"Something has got to be addressed here," said Herbert, speaking to members of the Wasatch Front Regional Council. "We've got to broaden our ability to extract revenue. We've got to broaden our ability to extract revenue that is attached to highways and transportation."
Over the next four weeks, Herbert plans to travel the state and visit with local government officials, asking for advice on how to best fund the $3.5 million shortfall. Options should be balanced, he said, and that may mean transportation is funded through a hike in the gas tax or perhaps a local-option property tax increase.
On Oct. 14, the governor's office will host a forum where business leaders and local officials will gather to discuss the state's transportation funding problem. Information garnered from Herbert's road trip will be discussed.
Midvale Mayor JoAnn Seghini, a regional council member, said she hopes the plan spreads the impact evenly between state and local officials. State lawmakers are traditionally leery of tax increases, she said.
"I think the Legislature has to bite the bullet and help us do this, and not just say the local governments have to raise taxes," Seghini said.
Ogden Mayor Matthew Godfrey, also a regional council member, told Herbert that the funding plan should include flexibility for local governments. Money raised in a community should go back to that community, he said.
During the past legislative session, members of the regional council tried to sell lawmakers on a transportation funding plan that included a 5-cent gas tax increase and property tax increases for transit. The regional council still stands by that plan, created after over two years of work by local officials, spokesman Sam Klemm said.
"Until it's revoked, we stand by that resolution," Klemm said.
Herbert said the governor's administration will take the regional council's plan under advisement, but nothing conclusive has been decided.
Overall, the administration has one firm goal for the coming weeks: Find a way to help fund transportation.
"Hopefully, we'll come together and actually do something about it," Herbert said. "This will be a failure if we talk a lot and do nothing."
E-mail: nwarburton@desnews.com
You can be the first to comment on this story.