Look for other money

The Department of Transportation is looking for more money again. The big/easy solution is higher fuel taxes. Someone needs to look for money that all along should have been going to streets and highways.

Many are elated about the new taxes from casinos which may still be a couple of years away. Many don’t realize that since the passage of the casino amendment, existing gaming taxes have been lowered considerably. The new 13 percent gaming tax generating millions of dollars sounds wonderful, but 17.5 percent of those millions of tax dollars are turned back to the Racing Commission to be used as winnings on races.

How about other sources of highway revenue that are overlooked? A lot of taxes come from car tag fees, but more often I see expired tags on cars, some as much as a year overdue. More obvious are the temporary 30day paper tags expired as much as a year, and some paper tags so old they are rotting off.

Another car tag issue is “antique” tags for cars and trucks that are over 25 years old. They are a one-time payment for a “forever” tag. Most people don’t realize that, for example, a 1994 Cadillac with power steering and brakes, electronic ignition, cruise control, air conditioning, etc., will qualify for forever tags. This applies to old trucks too.

I have seen antique tags on unrestored beat-up old cars, commercial work trucks, and once I was passed by a dune buggy which I could imagine the only old part on that thing was a 25-year-old VW engine. I have heard that there are hundreds of thousands of autos on our roads that are over 25 years old. A 1994 model of anything should not qualify for antique tags.

I do own a true antique, a 1929 Model A Ford (restored). It sure doesn’t get much street and highway usage.

RAY HIGHTOWER Little Rock