Sales tax a much simpler solution to finance roads

Richard Pratt, Las Vegas

Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2011 | 2:01 a.m.

Regarding the Las Vegas Sun’s Monday article, “Efficient cars create tax hole”:

It seems to me that the Nevada Transportation Department is looking at the issue of raising revenue for the construction and maintenance of roads in Nevada from the wrong point of view.

Instead of trying to come up with a fee system where the users of roads pay their fair share, they should be looking at a system where the people who benefit from a well-maintained road system pay their fair share. And the fact of the matter is that we all benefit from a good road system, whether we drive or not.

We all benefit from emergency personnel such as police, fire and ambulance services having a good road system. We all benefit from delivery trucks being able to deliver goods that we all buy from local stores and restaurants. Tourists benefit from having taxis and limos to take them to various attractions around Las Vegas. People from California, Arizona, Utah and other states benefit by having good roads to drive on while visiting.

The only way to have everyone who benefits from a good road system pay their fair share of the costs is to have a broad-based tax based on consumption — a sales tax. And it can be implemented quickly and easily by adding a few cents to our current rate.

The sales tax solves a lot of the issues that people have with a user-based fee. It is simple, it doesn’t cost much to implement, doesn’t involve new technology or equipment, doesn’t involve privacy issues, it’s easy to pay, and it is easy to distribute revenue to the various jurisdictions based presumably on benefit.