Thursday, June 23, 2005 | 9:05 a.m.
The headline on a front-page story in Wednesday's Las Vegas Sun -- "Officials: State running out of roadwork money" -- was hardly a comforting thought for residents of the fastest-growing state in the nation. Although Nevada has enough money for road projects in its current three-year construction budget that ends in 2007, state transportation officials see a major shortfall ahead. From 2008 to 2014, they say, the state's gas tax will fall $2.4 billion short of the revenue needed to maintain roads and highways and build new ones. Gov. Kenny Guinn added that the projected shortfall could actually grow larger over time.
In response to this development, announced at a Tuesday meeting of the state Transportation Board, Guinn said a task force would be created to analyze the needs and costs of our transportation system and to set priorities. The task force will consider how strongly Nevadans support raising taxes to help pay for the building of more roads. If taxes aren't raised, Guinn said, road construction projects would have to be scaled back considerably. The task force will report to the 2007 Legislature, and lawmakers and the new governor (Guinn is term-limited and can't run again) will have to decide what action to take.
Gridlock simply isn't an option, particularly in Las Vegas, where slowing down traffic more than is already the case could stifle our economy. Plus, it's just plain aggravating for rush-hour commuters who are forced to waste their time stuck in traffic. Indeed, assuming that the needs identified by state transportation officials hold up to scrutiny by the task force, we couldn't imagine state lawmakers or the next governor not taking steps to ensure that road construction keeps pace with our growth -- including raising taxes if necessary.
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