YES: It’s needed to protect economy, public safety

Ohio’s transportation infrastructure is one of our state’s greatest and most important economic assets.

We sit within 600 miles of 60 percent of America’s population. We have the country’s fourth-largest interstate highway system and the second-largest inventory of bridges. Every year, $1.1 trillion in goods are shipped to and from sites in Ohio, mostly by truck. And nearly 2.4 million fulltime jobs in Ohio in key industries like tourism, retail sales, agriculture and manufacturing rely on our transportation infrastructure.

Today, this asset is threatened by a massive funding shortfall. It’s not an exaggeration to say that absent adequate investment, the quality of our roads, the safety of Ohio motorists and our economy will suffer for decades to come.

This shortfall didn’t happen overnight. It’s been nearly 14 years since Ohio made a true investment in its roads with a gasoline-tax increase. During that time vehicles have become more fuel efficient, roads are getting more use than ever and maintenance and construction costs have risen dramatically.

Local governments, for years, have been sounding a warning. But Ohio played a short game, using temporary borrowing to pay for needed maintenance and improvements on roads with state jurisdiction. Now that funding has run out, and each year moving forward, before one dime can be spent on roads, $390 million out of the state transportation budget must go to pay that debt.

As a former county engineer, I’ve spent my entire career planning, designing and overseeing the construction, maintenance and repair of Ohio’s local roads and bridges. Transportation planning and construction is a long-game undertaking. County and state engineers anticipate and plan 10-plus years into the future. But funding these long-term plans only happens in two-year increments at the Statehouse, amid a multitude of other policy considerations. As a result, funding decisions often fail to employ the long-term vision of the planners.

Right now, Ohio has barely enough funding to maintain its existing system, and county engineers are operating on 40 percent of the needed budget to maintain and improve local roads and bridges. Absent more funding, longplanned projects won’t happen. Major new construction won’t happen, and in the case of projects built in phases, construction will stop. Roads and bridges closed due to unsafe conditions will continue to cause residents to traverse long detours.

State leaders are currently considering an increase in the motorfuel tax. Governor Mike Dewine showed strong leadership in proposing an 18-cents-per-gallon increase — the minimum necessary to catch up on inflation, provide adequate maintenance, support needed highway improvements and complete desirable safety projects.

It was encouraging to see Republicans and Democrats in the House and Senate cast votes recently to enact a fuel-tax increase, but the levels they have endorsed so far fall short of what’s needed to do the job right. We respectfully ask the General Assembly to adopt a final budget package that compares favorably to the Administration plan.

It would be shortsighted for lawmakers to enact a tax increase that fails to solve the problem at the state level and address at least a good share of the problems at the local level for the next several years.

The governor’s proposal would bring Ohio’s gas tax in line with those in Indiana and Michigan, but far lower than in Pennsylvania. Ohio won’t be an outlier.

Earlier this week, gas went up 45 cents a gallon overnight, and not one cent of that increase went toward fixing Ohio roads. Ohio’s motor fuel tax — which constitutionally is required to be spent on roads, highways and bridges — is a true user fee. Those who use and benefit from the roads are the ones contributing to their upkeep and improvement.

A significant increase in the motor fuel tax is nothing less than a true investment in the future economic vitality of our state and its citizens.

Dean Ringle is executive director of the County Engineers Association of Ohio, former Franklin County Engineer, and a co-founder of Fix Our Roads Ohio, a coalition of motorists, business leaders, local elected officials and transportation experts.