Benefits of transportation lockbox amendment hard to assess
In 2016, Illinois voters reached a rare, overwhelming agreement on a public policy issue.
They said they were tired of having gasoline tax money and related fees and taxes used to pay for other state expenses. They said it very loudly. A constitutional amendment — the Safe Roads Amendment — to provide a sort of lockbox for transportation funds got nearly 80 percent approval from voters. It needed only 60 percent to be added to the state Constitution.
More than a year after the amendment went into effect, even proponents are trying to weigh its impact.
“We’re still evaluating,” said Mike Sturino, president and CEO of the Illinois Road and Transportation Builders Association. “We’re continuing to review all of the units of government, including the state of Illinois, to ensure compliance.”
That’s an important distinction to make about the amendment. State government has been widely criticized for using gasoline taxes to prop up other parts of the state budget instead of funneling all of the revenue to actual road and bridge construction projects. The amendment, though, applies to taxes and fees levied at the local level, too.
“There have been reports of units of government that have been tempted to divert transportation revenues to non-transportation purposes,” Sturino said. “We’ve reminded them of the constitutional amendment and that’s generally worked.”
However, the road builders association, along with 10 other construction and engineering groups involved in road building, filed a lawsuit earlier this month against Cook County government contending the county diverted $250 million in transportation taxes to other expenses. The lawsuit says this is being done in violation of the amendment.
Laurence Msall, president of the Civic Federation, a watchdog over government finances, said the Cook County lawsuit is most obvious effect of the amendment so far.
“It’s the first test case that we’ve seen, but we would expect that there would be more to come, because the language in the constitutional amendment is not very clear,” he said.
The amendment doesn’t specify that gasoline taxes, say, can only be used to build roads and bridges used by cars and trucks. Rather, it says taxes and fees generated from transportation related sources — whether the motor fuel tax or vehicle title fees or similar things — must be used for transportation-related purposes.
That can cover a variety of things. Sturino agrees that salaries for Illinois Department of Transportation employees can be paid with those taxes and fees and still meet the requirements of the amendment. Just how broadly the amendment can be interpreted will ultimately have to be determined by the courts, Msall said.
“Ultimately, the Illinois Supreme Court will have the final say about what is allowed,” he said.
It’s also difficult to pinpoint a direct benefit to state road construction from having the amendment in place.
“The Civic Federation expressed concern before the amendment was passed, it was oftentimes oversold as to what problem it would correct,” Msall said. “Some of the proponents of the amendment claimed that it would free up such a large amount of money that was being diverted that gas taxes and other fees would never have to be raised again and we’d be able to maintain our roads.”
On the contrary, there are occasionally calls for the state to raise gasoline taxes or other revenue sources to ensure the state just keeps up with needed road and bridge maintenance. IDOT officials have said the state needs an additional $1.5 billion annually to maintain roads adequately.
Msall said the “most aggressive analysis” of the amendment is that it might free up $500 million. A more reasonable estimate, he said, is in the range of $150 million to $200 million.
The state’s road fund has often presented a tempting target for lawmakers who needed a quick way to balance the budget. When a $1.6 billion budget hole had to be plugged in the spring of 2015, lawmakers took $250 million out of the road fund to help do it. The state then went two years without a budget, during which time the amendment passed, putting a chunk of money off limits.
Except, Sturino noted, lawmakers found a way around it. Previously, he said, about $300 million in transit costs were paid out of general tax money. In the current budget, that $300 million is being financed with transportation taxes, freeing up that amount of general tax money for other uses.
Sturino said his organization is still reviewing state budget proposals to determine how transportation revenue is being utilized.
For lawmakers responsible for crafting a state budget, the amendment has not added to their difficulties.
“It will be a factor in some areas. I think there are a few minor areas where things are being sorted out,” said Rep. Greg Harris, D-Chicago, a principal House budget negotiator. “I don’t think there’s anything we’re surprised by so far.”
He said the main thing will be ensuring that certain expenses qualify as transportation-related costs to ensure they comply with the amendment.
Sen. Andy Manar, D-Bunker Hill, said he hasn’t seen evidence that the amendment has created problems balancing the budget.
“The point of that amendment was to exert discipline on state government,” he said.
Contact Doug Finke: doug.finke@sj-r.com, 788-1527, twitter.com/dougfinkesjr.
http://www.sj-r.com/news/20180325/benefits-of-transportation-lockbox-amendment-hard-to-assess
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