Higher Registration Fee Could Fund New Roads
HURST (CBSDFW.COM) - Are you willing to spend $50 more every year for better roads?
A statewide business group is supporting such a plan, pushing for an increase in vehicle registration fees in the upcoming legislative session, hoping to use that new money for to pay for new transportation projects. The Texas Association of Business believes that, if the state raises registration fees by $50 per vehicle, and dedicates that money to road projects, it would create an additional $16 billion in bonds to fund road construction.
In fact, the group said that a higher registration fee may be the only route that will lead Texas toward better roads.
But Governor Rick Perry has a different idea for funneling money to road projects.
Perry said that the state needs to use the funding allocated for transportation projects specifically -- and solely -- for their intended purpose, instead of diverting portions of that money to non-transportation needs. His proposal calls for more budget transparency by the government. "All too often, Fund 6, which is the name of the fund where the dollars dedicated for transportation infrastructure are collected and held, they've been used to fund maintenance and construction financed by a variety of taxes, including our gas tax," Perry explained. "But they've been tapped for entirely different purposes."
Keeping up a demand for infrastructure is important to the continued growth of our state, Perry said, and a major draw for businesses to bring their companies to Texas.
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