Independence passes local transportation tax

INDEPENDENCE, Mo. -- Several years had passed since a transportation tax was enacted with a long list of specific projects it was expected to fund.

Now it was time to ask for more money. And voters were presented another long list of projects their tax dollars would build.

This past Tuesday, voters in Independence responded by passing a three-eighths-cent sales tax for local transportation projects. The winning margin: 59 percent.

That same day, by the same margin, Independence voters rejected a one-half-cent sales tax and 4-cent fuel tax for state transportation projects.

Statewide, the Proposition B transportation tax failed by more than 72 percent.

What caused such a different outcome between the local and state transportation taxes?

Among other things, Independence city manager Larry Blick thinks it comes down a person's word -- promises kept versus promises broken.

"We've established credibility," Blick says. "We over-delivered with what we said we would. And the state has a serious problem of under-delivering on that 15-year plan that was adopted about 10 years ago."

State promised too much

In 1992, the Missouri legislature passed a phased-in 6-cent motor fuel tax increase that was tied to a 15-year road plan.

The state transportation department promised to pave or build more than 24,000 miles of road, issuing detailed maps and a 100-plus-page book listing the construction projects. Among the pledges: a four-lane road to every city of more than 5,000 residents.

But in 1998, transportation commissioners abandoned the plan, saying it had promised about a $1 billion more annually than it could deliver. Many of the 1992 projects still haven't been started, but the 6-cent fuel tax remains.

The state's troubles mark a sharp contrast with the successes of Independence, the state's fourth-largest city.

In 1998 -- the same year the state was scrapping its plan -- Independence voters approved a one-half-cent local sales tax for streets and parks.

The Independence plan promised to repave about 200 miles of road, specifically listing 570 different road segments that would be improved. It also included 10 special projects, such as bridge or intersection improvements.

The city finished all the projects in four years -- one year sooner than it had promised under the five-year tax -- and is currently undertaking dozens of extra road improvements.

This year, the city proposed an extension of the local transportation and parks taxes -- presenting them separately on the August ballot as a three-eighths-cent transportation tax and one-quarter-cent parks tax.

Again, the city detailed about 200 miles of road repaving, listing 764 road segments in a brochure available to the public. Also promised were 30 other projects, including bridge, intersection and safety improvements.

The local taxes passed -- and may have passed by an even larger margin had they not been on the same ballot as the state transportation tax, Blick said.

"One thing that has worked in our favor in the city of Independence is we were able to do everything we said we were going to do," said Howard Penrod, the city's public works director.

Long memories

State transportation officials are acutely aware of the contrast. Department director Henry Hungerbeeler called the failure of Proposition B "a personal and professional disappointment."

"We all take our jobs very seriously, we all want to do our jobs for the state," Hungerbeeler said after the election. And for voters "to indicate a lack of trust personally hurts."

So how does a transportation program build credibility?

Before 1998, Independence also had a credibility problem. And city voters hadn't approved a tax increase in about 25 years.

"In years past, the city had been accused of doing something different than what was said before the election," Blick said. "People have long memories."

So as part of the 1998 plan, the city agreed to create a citizens panel to check on the progress of the road work and make twice yearly reports to the city council.