Transportation is big business in Ohio. Our Department of Transportation's annual budget is an impressive $2.1 billion, but, The Plain Dealer reports in a 2006 article titled, "Gas tax increase fuels ODOT building boom" the split between maintaining and improving what we have and building new roads in more remote parts of the state is not equitable. The problem is fueled by accusations of a pay-to-play culture and political patronage—not to mention some bizarre funding decisions.

The vast majority of ODOT’s budget comes from federal and state gas taxes, which total 46.4 cents for every gallon of gas we buy. So, the more we drive, the more ODOT’s budget swells.

When the former director of ODOT ushered in a six-cent gas tax increase in 2003, it fueled a $500 million boom of spending on new highways, the PD adds. As a result, Ohio is one of the top spenders in the nation on new transportation infrastructure while a leader in the dubious category of suburban sprawl.

So protected is the gas tax revenue, that when lawmakers recently considered spending $23 million from the tax on the state’s Turnpike, the Contractor’s Association lobbied successfully to quash the effort. At the same time, the State Highway Patrol was stripped of $190 million of its budget from the tax. The powerful contractor’s lobby has a six-figure pile of campaign contributions to sympathetic lawmakers in the Ohio Legislature.

ODOT is so flush with cash, that it’s spending $70 million to replace all of its 500,000 road signs even though no federal regulations require it and ODOT's own studies show that fewer than 6,000 signs—barely 1 percent of the total—are missing, damaged or otherwise deficient.

Ohio Governor Ted Strickland has vowed to reform ODOT. In January 2007, his spokesman repeated Strickland's concerns that ODOT projects are driven by campaign contributions, saying Strickland's new ODOT director will be under orders "to identify any activity that feeds that perception and stop it immediately."

What do we want?
How can we help the new administration reform ODOT? Our goals should be to bring in an era of fiscal responsibility, and establish a culture at ODOT that values rebuilding a 21st century transportation infrastructure that improves the health and welfare of those living in high-population areas versus the status quo of building more highways to nowhere.

For starters, we need to reform the use of the gas tax so that non-automobile gas taxes (such as gas purchased for lawn mowers) can be spent on transportation alternatives.

History of paying for highways only
The Ohio Constitution was amended in 1947 to restrict the use of passenger vehicle license fees and “fuels used for propelling such vehicles” for highway construction, reconstruction, maintenance and repair only. As a result, about 98 percent of ODOT’s budget is spent on highways, and any discussion of changing the budget to pay for new modes of transportation such as passenger rail, bike lanes and pedestrian friendly streets has been deadlocked.

Oregon innovates, so can Ohio
Most states have the same constitutional limitations on their state gas tax. But, in Oregon, gas tax reform was achieved in 2001 when the state’s Attorney General issued a report that stated collecting and using gas taxes from "off-road" (lawn mowers, leaf blowers, chain saws, etc.) equipment isn't appropriate for highway projects. With the ruling, Oregon's legislature passed H.B. 3882 which led to the creation of a Transportation Operating Fund to separate taxes collected for lawnmowers and the like from the State Highway Fund. In its first year, the TOF was used to fund the Cascades passenger rail line (but since it wasn't limited to rail projects, subsequent uses have been more general).

(Oregon is also experimenting with a tax on how many miles you drive as a replacement for the gax tax. The thinking is, as cars become more fuel efficient, less gas taxes will be collected. Read more). 

With some due diligence, Ohio’s Attorney General could conduct a similar study of statutes that have lead to inappropriate uses of gas tax. As in Oregon, Ohio's Department of Transportation can then perform a financial analysis that estimates a percentage of the gas tax produced by 'off-road' equipment, and the legislature can pass legislation that dedicates a TOF fund earmarked for multi-modal transportation projects like the Ohio Hub passenger rail.

Resources

• Oregon Dept. of Justice analysis of laws (PDF) to determine valid use of State Highway Funds
• Greater Cleveland Partnership statement on gas tax reform (PDF)

Updates
2-13-07—Gov. Strickland appoints Brown County Engineer James Beasely to serve as director of Ohio Department of Transportation. Beasely headed Strickland's transition team where he wrote a report calling for ODOT reform, to realign priorities around "multi-modal" transportation facilities and away from a limited focus on Ohio's primary arteries.