MONTPELIER, Vt. -
Vermont's transportation system is suffering from a serious lack of money.
Crews are having a tougher time keeping the roads we use everyday in the best possible condition.
A lot of transportation funding comes from the federal government but in order to receive that money, states have to come up with a 20 percent match.
In 2012 Vermont needed a $10 million bond, a 6.3 percent hike in DMV fees and other quick revenue fixes in order to reach the amount needed for the federal match. A recent review by The Section 40 Committee on Transportation Funding estimates a $240 million gap in the budget and what's needed to keep the roads acceptable for Vermonters.
Listed in the report are a number of possibilities that could create revenue including a tax on the number of miles you drive.
"The vehicle miles traveled is the purest form of a user based system you know you get charged on the miles you use," VTrans Director of Policy and Planning Chris Cole said.
Cole says that regardless of what methods are settled on to raise revenue somehow the transportation budget has to grow in Vermont.
"Projects cost more, bridges cost more to build but your revenue isn't adjusting to inflation. That decreases your ability to get things done," Cole said.
The budget isn't adjusting because 30 percent of it is based on a state tax on gas which isn't earning as much anymore.
Part of the reason for this gap in the transportation budget is because Vermonters are driving less on their own thanks to park and rides and other public transportation options. Also because they're driving more fuel efficient vehicles and filling up less at the pump.
"As we are successful in public transportation and the success of the commuter routes, the LINK Express and all the folks who are riding these commuter systems it's reducing our gas tax. So we are definitely a victim of our own success," Cole said.
Cole says a mileage tax would eliminate the gas tax making it so tourists would no longer contribute to the transportation system budget. Combined with the time and technology needed to set it up he says it might not be worth it yet.
The means in which the Vermont Transportation System will raise revenue will become much clearer after Governor Peter Shumlin outlines his budget proposal January 24th. That's when the House and Senate Committee on Transportation and Secretary of Transportation Brian Searles will see what they have to work with.
