Road report highlights a flaw in taxing argument

COMPARED with other states, Oklahoma ranks poorly in many areas. Some argue those rankings would improve if Oklahoma government spent — and therefore taxed — more. A recent report from TRIP, a national transportation research group, inadvertently highlights the weakness of that argument.

“Rural Connections: Challenges and Opportunities in America’s Heartland,” evaluates the nation’s rural roads and bridges. It’s not shocking Oklahoma rated poorly, as this has been the case for years. TRIP found 22 percent of our rural roads are in poor condition. Only nine other states had the same share (or greater) in poor condition.

TRIP also found 16 percent of Oklahoma’s rural bridges are structurally deficient. Only six other states were comparable or worse.

Oklahoma is generally considered a low-tax state. Critics often argue there’s a correlation between low taxes and bad roads and bridges (or low rankings in other national comparisons). So it’s worth noting which states rated worse than Oklahoma.

Rhode Island was the state with the greatest share of rural roads in poor condition, with 41 percent given that rating. The state with the second-largest share was Connecticut (39 percent) followed by California (38 percent) and Hawaii (28 percent).

How do those states compare to Oklahoma when it comes to taxation? According to the Tax Policy Center, the amount of state and local taxes collected per capita in Oklahoma was $3,565 in 2014, the most recent year data was available. In Rhode Island, the figure was $5,170.

Put another way, citizens in Rhode Island pay 45 percent more per capita in state and local taxes than do people in Oklahoma, yet the citizens there have far more bad rural roads than do their Oklahoma counterparts.

The figures are even more daunting when you look at Connecticut, where state-local tax collections per capita total $7,249, or 103 percent more than Oklahoma.

Of the states listed by TRIP as the 10 worst in the country based on the percentage of rural roads in poor condition, only Mississippi collects less in state and local taxes per capita than Oklahoma. In most cases, states with bad rural roads are collecting far more in taxes than Oklahoma.

Notably, Rhode Island is also the worst-rated state when it comes to the number of structurally deficient rural bridges.

One correlation that can be made in comparing TRIP’s rural transportation rankings with state and local tax burdens is a “pay more taxes, get less service” theme. Yet that would be an oversimplification — just as Oklahoma critics oversimplify when they claim low taxes are the cause of poor state rankings.

For increased taxation to generate improvement, politicians must not only spend more, they must spend the extra money wisely. That’s a big obstacle not just in Oklahoma, but in many states.

There are wide differences in what each state’s politicians prioritize and how they fund various activities. This is one reason state and local tax collections are worth noting when discussing rural roads, which are often funded by local governments more than the state.

By default, government spending often involves significant waste. And prioritizing spending in one area necessarily means spending less elsewhere. Thus, higher taxation doesn’t automatically translate into improved results across the board. Put simply, political priorities matter.