RTC seeks tax increases

Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2002 | 9:18 a.m.

For transportation planners statewide and locally, this is a time of enormous challenges -- mostly about money.

As the local population continues to grow, recession or not, thousands of new people are taking the bus or driving their cars, crowding already congested roads. This week, local and state transportation officials are making the pitch to preserve, restore or raise new funds from any available source.

Regional Transporation Commission staff will go before the agency's board Thursday to ask for commission approval of a $2.6 billion package of tax increases to fund Southern Nevada's growing need for new roads and highways.

If it passes the RTC board, the issue could go to voters for a recommendation next fall. The Legislature would have the ultimate say on the proposed tax package, to be spread over the next 25 years.

The board, composed of representatives from the Clark County Commission and cities across the region, also will hear of bad news from Washington: a proposed national cut of $8.6 billion in federal road funding, including nearly $50 million trimmed from next year's proposed highway budget for Nevada -- more than a quarter of the total federal funding.

Bringing both sources of revenue to the region are critical, local officials said.

"The fact of the matter is, if we gridlock Southern Nevada, that cripples the entire state's economy," RTC General Manager Jacob Snow warned. "We're in a transportation crisis. The time is now to act to deal with it."

NDOT Director Tom Stephens said he views the package of tax increases on the RTC's agenda for Thursday as "an equitable way to raise money for the tremendous growth that we have had."

Stephens and his staff also are concerned about proposed cuts to federal funding for highways. He testified before Sen. Harry Reid's subcommittee Monday calling for Congress to restore $8.6 billion that would, under President Bush's budget, be slashed from nationwide road funds.

Speaking on behalf of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, Stephens said the cuts could have a dramatic impact on local projects nationwide.

"It is vital to maintain current funding," he said. "Otherwise, as early as next month, state and local officials will have to begin the task of curring billions of dollars in highway projects" from next year's programs.

Both Stephens and Snow said they are optimistic that the final federal budget will put back some or all of the proposed funding cuts.

"We're in an election year," Snow said. "Every congressman is going to be working hard to restore funding for their state."

Both the House and Senate have bills that would restore most of the proposed cuts, Stephens said. In the Senate, Reid, majority whip, has cosponsored the measure to bring the funding back.

Next year's federal transportation budget is critical, Stephens said, because it will set the baseline for the next six years of national road and highway funding. Failure to restore the money could lead to a $70 billion shortfall nationwide.

Both on a state and national level, that could jeopardize economic recovery, he said.

"As we struggle to regain our economic vitality, we dare not pull the plug on our transportation investments," Stephens told the Senate subcommittee. "The American motorist's fuel taxes collected for highways should be spent on highways."

Shashi Nambisan, director of the Transportation Research Center at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, said without the funding, local safety will suffer.

High-risk areas on local roads and highways that should be fixed could be left waiting, increasing the likelihood of accidents, he said.

Also, people already frustrated by road congestion are likely to become more irritated. That means impatient drivers speeding and displaying "road rage," he said.

"You're going to be putting more people in the same place at the same time," Nambisan said.