Page 22 - Sept/Oct 2018 Vol 36 No 3

STATEWIDE
New Money for Old Problems
Transportation problems seldom go
away or correct themselves. Typically, the
problems grow to a point where there is
a public outcry and demands to “fix the
problem.” The “fix,” as with most every
transportation problem fix, comes with a
price tag. The price tag has to be weighed
against funding emergency services,
mowing the grass on the ball fields, buying potential state and federal transportation
or repairing a truck, replacing the broken
light fixtures at the community center, and provide the required local matching funds.
so on. However, imagine for a moment
that you have money in an account that
is there solely to address transportation
problems. Now, the decision process
becomes much less complex.
Historically, municipalities and counties more successful than others are when
in Tennessee have not had a dedicated
funding source for transportation-
related improvements. Rather, funding
has come from the jurisdiction’s general
fund and state or federal grant programs.
Competition for general fund dollars can
be fierce considering all the demands and
costs associated with operating a city or
22 TPW September/October 2018
By Wain Gaskins, P.E. & Houston Dougherty P.E.
county government. There are instances,
for example, where police and fire services TAP, CMAQ, etc. There are limited
alone account for over 60 percent of
general fund obligations. That makes
for tough choices to fund the remaining
operations such as parks, general services
and transportation. Some governing
agencies lose millions of dollars of
funds simply because of the inability to
More and more, Tennessee communities
are relying on state and federal grant
dollars and other earmarks to keep up
with construction and maintenance of
their transportation systems. Some are
pursuing these dollars, though the
majority of communities find themselves
on the outside looking in. Either way,
there is a limited amount of state and
federal monies, in turn intensifying the
competition for these funds. The funding
methods available are not reliable nor
practical for long-term planning whether
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through the MPO, STP allocated funds,
options otherwise – issue bonds or raise
taxes:
Bonding – Requires cities to pay off three
years of road maintenance over a 10- or
20-year period; then take out another
bond and repeat the process.
Taxes – Property tax increase, which is not
a fair allocation in the sense that only
the taxable properties (homeowners and
businesses) pick up the tab. Government
agencies, churches, schools, hospitals
and nonprofit organizations (which can
comprise a significant percentage of
property within a jurisdiction) currently
do not contribute to maintaining the
public transportation infrastructure.
Governments can implement a more
viable, sustainable system to proactively
manage transportation infrastructure;
a fiscally responsible system providing
a fair allocation of funding for the
transportation system. The method is
called a Transportation Utility Fee (TUF),
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Hydraulics
serves
all of West
Tennessee for
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and Galbreath
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