Cloud Cuckoo Land at the Herald
Sussex County WatchdogLet's say you are the New Jersey Herald and you are in debt. Your out-of-state corporate owners argue that there is fat that can be cut, things done more efficiently, savings made. But you still need a source of funding to keep the lights on, pay the staff, and do those things necessary for your day to day operations.
Do you have the option of not paying your staff, your suppliers, your utilities, your taxes -- until you've had time to "study" the problem and come up with a solution that makes your business profitable? We don't think you do.
But that is exactly what the Herald is suggesting happen with the Transportation Trust Fund (TTF). The TTF is out of money... now! So the Herald is suggesting that they spend no more on road and bridge maintenance and repairs until they figure out a way to operate more efficiently.
Now we're all for finding ways to make the TTF operate efficiently (unhelpfully, the Herald doesn't suggest any), but in the real world, we all know that when the money runs out, and the workers don't get paid, the repairs will stop. And what that will do is make all that road and bridge maintenance and repair work the responsibility of counties and municipalities. That's right, local governments, paid for with local property tax dollars -- your property tax dollars.
Almost $300 million every year is sent from the TTF to local governments to repair and maintain their roads and bridges. This is about to disappear, and when it does, it will need to be replaced by local governments with a $300 million increase in property taxes. If the money isn't replaced, and local governments willingly allow roads and bridges to become dangerous to use and if they fail to close them, the cost of the litigation resulting from avoidable tragedies will bankrupt some local governments or force property taxes even higher.
Yes, roads and bridges must be maintained and repaired . And the TTF must have the money to pay for it. Where will that money come from? Approximately one-third of gas tax revenues in New Jersey come from out-of-state drivers. All property taxes come from the people of New Jersey. So which do you think is the best way to pay for improvements to roads and bridges, an increase in the gas tax or an increase in property taxes?
The responsible way is the two-track approach: (1) Study and propose reforms to the TTF while, (2) coming up with a plan that funds road and bridge maintenance and repair without raising property taxes. But there are those who don't want to be responsible, and we know why.
We know why AFP would rather raise property taxes than a gas tax. AFP is a top-down organization funded by one of the world's biggest producers of petroleum products. The people who fund AFP are using it to lobbying for their special interests and a user tax on gasoline affects their bottom line. As a national organization funded by a globalist elite, AFP isn't concerned that New Jersey property taxpayers will be spending $11 billion on subsidizing the use of our state's roads by out-of-state drivers.
And we know that newspapers like the Herald are desperate to have taxpayers continue to subsidize them. State law requires that advertisements be placed in newspapers for many official actions -- like notices of sheriff sales and local government budgets. Millions of property tax dollars are spent each year by local governments for these advertisements and that money goes directly into the pockets of the corporate entities that own and control the newspapers. Modern technology has made this expense antiquated and unnecessary. Today, notice could be given on government-owned websites for a tiny fraction of the cost property taxpayers are paying now to newspapers. To the Herald, keeping this subsidy is more important than keeping the lid on property taxes.
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THIS JUST IN... A new Rutgers University study of road construction costs shows that the Reason Foundation study AFP is touting is just so much bullshit. Hey, we get it. He who pays the piper calls the tune and Reason, like AFP, is funded by those same producers of petroleum products. Below is the statement released by Rutgers. You can read the full study here.
For Immediate Release: May 19, 2016
Contact: Steve Schapiro 609.530.4280
Kevin Israel
Daniel Triana
Rutgers study estimates cost to build and maintain NJDOT roads Research part of analysis to better understand transportation infrastructure costs
(Trenton) – New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) officials today announced the release of a new study conducted by Rutgers University’s Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center that determined the average cost to plan, construct, operate, and maintain one mile of roadway under NJDOT jurisdiction is $183,757.
The study is part of a two phase effort to provide an understanding of aggregate costs associated with NJDOT roadways and bridges. Rutgers will conduct additional research to understand more completely the factors that influence cost efficiency.
“The New Jersey Department of Transportation is committed to providing a modern, safe, and reliable transportation system throughout the State in the most effective manner possible,” NJDOT Acting Commissioner Richard T. Hammer said. “The study is part of an on-going effort to identify those factors that drive costs in New Jersey’s public transportation sector.”
The Rutgers study found that on average nearly 60 percent of total transportation-related expenditures are for activities not directly associated with planning, construction, operating, and maintaining roads and bridges under NJDOT jurisdiction. These costs are related to expenditures for NJ TRANSIT, debt services on transportation bonds, funding for local road projects, aviation, maritime and rail freight, and contribute to providing a comprehensive and safe transportation system throughout the State.
“The Rutgers study stands in stark contrast to a recent report that grossly over-reported New Jersey’s highway costs at $2 million per mile,” Hammer said, noting that the Rutgers study concurred that it is inappropriate to include the entire debt service amount on transportation bonds when calculating lane mile costs, and that additional analysis is required to isolate the portion attributable to highway projects.
The study also determined that on average $1.5 billion is spent annually on highway expenses, and of this amount, approximately 60 percent is attributable to construction. Less than four percent is attributable to administration, planning and research. The remainder goes toward operations and maintenance.
“The facts of this study not only demonstrate the Department’s responsible stewardship of taxpayer dollars,” Hammer added. “But also will allow NJDOT to single out cost driver outliers, which will in turn provide the Department the ability to target future efficiency efforts.”
Phase II of this study will conduct an analysis of toll road authority expenditures and produce a detailed case study analysis of various NJDOT and toll authority roadway and bridge projects to understand cost efficiency variation more completely.
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