The bills are coming due. It may not happen in this session of the General Assembly and perhaps not the next. But at some point, the state has to face up to its diminishing ability in having other people pay for the nuts and bolts of government.
At the time this piece was being written, measures to increase the gas tax and place a charge on property taxes for clean-up of the state’s waterways seem likely to end up as items for next year.
This is not an endorsement of either proposal. Hitting businesses and individuals with a 10-cent-a-gallon gas tax and for some businesses thousands of dollars in additional property taxes is not a good idea during a difficult economic recovery. Similar problems exist in the state’s gaming industry, which needs see the state reduce its piece of the action. Otherwise, layoffs will result and the state will lose those revenues as the industry downsizes.
What is sad is the failure of legislators to come up with innovative plans that would provide a way out of this growing crisis. Among Democrats, we see a tendency to focus on social issues and run from anything else.
With Republicans, it is simply “no, no, no, let’s lower taxes.” Never mind, that a GOP-dominated legislature in Pennsylvania managed to come up with a gas tax plan. The best we have seen is a proposal to cut spending by 2 percent.
Of course, we have a sizable contingent on the far left have also been living in an alternate universe, claiming that corporations and the wealthy should simply shoulder the cost of roads, bridges and clean water.
It is not unusual that legislators would balk at making changes during an election year. After all, they know Delaware residents have been happy living on the dole, with out-of-state motorists and corporations footing the bills.
In return, we have enjoyed no sales taxes and low property taxes, particularly in Kent and Sussex counties. Growth from real estate transfer taxes has fattened tax coffers, but left us with a bad case of sprawl that is taxing the capacity of roads, bridges and septic systems.
And after years of patting ourselves on the back for the condition of bridges when compared to the crumbling infrastructure of neighboring Pennsylvania, we find that a key bridge along Interstate 495 will requires tens of millions of dollars for a temporary fix.
In today’s 24-hour news cycle, we will see the blame game continue over material dumped under the bridge, but the fact remains that much of I-95 and 495 was constructed in the 1960s and ‘70s and is simply wearing out.
The state will not be on the hook for much of this cost, but precious transportation revenue will have to be tapped and one would guess that upon further scrutiny, other problems will emerge. Meanwhile the bills are coming due and the lack of a public vision from either side of the aisle is a disappointment. – Doug Rainey
