Proposed Streetlight Fee Shows City Knows Driving in Decline; USA Today Says "Just Raise Gas Tax"

Back in February, City Council adopted a legislative position against any statewide increase in the gas tax, and they are instead trying to raise revenue by a proposed local utility fee.  But as they argue for the utility fee, they have to admit that driving is in decline.  Will they align this position with their position on bridge traffic?  Something's gotta give!

Interestingly, just a couple of days ago, USA Today came out with a strong editorial in favor of raising the gas tax.

Gas taxes are not perfect. Unlike transponders, they don't allow for peak-hour pricing to reduce congestion. And, as many states have figured out, they raise less money when people buy more efficient cars.

But they have the great virtue of being uncomplicated and fair. The people who pay the most gas tax are those who drive the most and use the most gas. Makes sense to us....

...it is best to keep things simple.

And the simplest, fairest and least invasive way to respond to lower gas tax revenue is with higher gas taxes.

The State is monkeying with House Bill 2453, which would add a mileage fee for owners of electric cars and other high-mileage vehicles.

Meanwhile, as Curt pointed out in a comment, the City's argument for adding a fee to utility bills to pay for street lights is revealing.

Slides from Staff Presentation

The City has been talking about this for at least a couple of years.  It first hit the blog during the Sustainable Cities Initiative.

In its current proposal, it would add a monthly fee like this:

The fees would collect nearly $2M a year

The reason for it is that gas tax and other state highway revenues are down:

Revenue is down because we are driving less

While City and Rivercrossing Staff disparage observations about declining bridge traffic, on the revenue side they seem to accept the fact that we're driving less!

Hypocrisy might be too strong a word, but the inconsistency is certainly striking.

Maybe it's time to reconsider the gas tax?  There are many reasons to support an increase in the gas tax, and for a mainstream publication like USA Today to embrace an increase is a sign of some traction.

An increase would be part of a strategy for climate change, as well.  Initial reports were that the monitoring station in Hawaii last week reached 400ppm of atmospheric Carbon Dioxide, a symbolic threshold that shows just how bad things have got. The reading has since been revised downward to 399.89ppm. Whatever. It's gonna break 400 this summer.

"A Great Bridge will Lead us to Awesome Prosperity"
Landsberger Collection

Locally, If the City's not going to double-down on decline denialism, they should stop screwing around and turn to rational transportation planning that accommodates real change in mobility patterns.