Panel begins search for transportation funding solutions

SANDPOINT — Declining revenue and ever-increasing amounts of roadwork are forcing Idaho to make some tough decisions about how best to maintain its infrastructure without dramatically increasing taxes.

With that dilemma in mind, Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter recently announced the creation of an 18-month Governor’s Transportation Task Force, which will examine and recommend traditional and non-traditional ways Idaho can fund the maintenance and preservation of its highways and bridges.

The task force is chaired by Lt. Gov. Brad Little and made up of four citizens, two members of the Idaho Transportation board and five members of the Idaho House and Senate, including Sandpoint’s Sen. Shawn Keough.

Keough said she hopes the task force, which held its first meeting Thursday, will dig deeper into the state’s transportation problems and find creative solutions.

“I believe it’s needed now because, for some folks, its very clear that we have a backlog of maintenance needs and a backlog of building needs on our roads, but we have yet to come to agreement on how to fund those needs,” she said.

Higher fuel efficiency vehicles will continue to populate Idaho’s highways, which means gas sales will drop, denying the state an important tax revenue for road construction and maintenance, Keough said.

The task force will look at ways to maximize traditional revenue sources, such as fuel tax, but will also explore alternative measures, including one currently being tested in Oregon that would require drivers to pay a fee for every mile they drive.

“It’s got big brother government written all over it,” Keough said of Oregon’s pilot program.

“But the drivers agreed to put a GPS unit in their car and they paid a certain amount of money per mile they drove.”

Keough said she and the rest of the task force welcome citizen input about transportation problems. E-mail skeough@senate.idaho.gov or visit www.itd.idaho.gov to submit comments or suggestions for the task force.