The Associated Press
CHARLESTON — CHARLESTON (AP) — A pair of bills on Gov. Joe Manchin’s desk could change the way road work is paid for in West Virginia, with new tolls and local bonds part of a mix aimed at replacing faltering gas tax revenues.
The Legislature passed the two measures during the 60-day session that ended Saturday, with the toll measure among Manchin’s agenda items. The governor wants West Virginia Turnpike’s parent agency to erect booths on certain roads to pay for building or expanding them.
The other measure, which originated in the Senate, would give counties a variety of funding tools to help pay for road construction, including user fees and bonds. Its backers say this would mark a major shift, since counties haven’t been responsible for road work in West Virginia since the Great Depression.
“This changes the mentality of West Virginia, where you have a dependency culture,” said Sen. John Unger. The Berkeley County Democrat was the bill’s lead sponsor.
“You’re saying to the counties, You can’t just wait for pennies from heaven,” he said. “Roads aren’t going to be something that has to be done by the state or the federal government.”
State government maintains 92 percent of the roads found within West Virginia’s borders, and is by that measure the sixth largest road system nationwide. The average for other states is 19 percent.
Tom Witt, a professor at West Virginia University and director of its Bureau of Business and Economic Research, told lawmakers last year that only three other states have such a centralized system for operating and financing roads.
Under Unger’s bill, counties would have to get voter approval before issuing bonds. One of the advantages, he said, is it would find funding sources for road projects outside the State Road Fund.
West Virginia’s State Road Fund pays for highway building, maintenance and repair. Its main revenue sources — taxes on fuel, vehicle sales and related registrations — have stagnated this decade because of improved fuel efficiency, occasional gas price spikes, the economic downturn and other factors. But the cost of key materials, asphalt and concrete, have risen.
Manchin hasn’t said yet if he’ll sign both bills. A call to his office was not immediately returned Tuesday.
Even if he does sign the measures into law, they may not make a significant dent in West Virginia’s long-term needs, according to Joe Deneault, chairman of West Virginians for Better Transportation.
“I would hate for people to go away from this year’s session thinking we solved all our transportation problems,” he said.
Deneault’s group says there are extensive maintenance problems with old, crumbling roads as well as a need for new construction. A study the group commissioned last year estimates that rough roads cost each motorist an average of $280 annually in extra vehicle operating costs.
Tolls only make sense for busy, well-traveled roads, Deneault said, and have limited use elsewhere in the state. And Unger’s bill requires voter approval, which is a complicated process with an uncertain outcome.
“These two bills are good steps, but they’re steps around the edge instead of jumping into the middle of the statewide problem,” he said.
