Local lawmakers support smaller tax for transportation

A Missouri Senate-approved amendment to scale back a proposed sales tax to increase transportation funding has the potential to bring needed updates to the region, a few local lawmakers said.

When it was approved by the state House of Representatives earlier this month, House Joint Resolution 68 sought to levy a 1-cent sales tax, subject to voter approval in November. But the Senate voted Tuesday to knock that number down and approved a three-fourths-cent tax by a vote of 22-10.

The measure must head back to the House for approval.

State Rep. Donna Lichtenegger, R-Jackson, was one of 96 representatives who voted for the original version of the resolution that called for the 1-cent tax. But she said it was a difficult decision.

"When I voted for it, I wasn't thrilled with it because I don't like tax hikes," she said.

That's why she was pleased to hear about the amendment, proposed by Sen. Mike Kehoe, R-Jefferson City, as a compromise to gain support from more fiscally conservative members of the House and Senate.

Lichtenegger said she initially had concerns about supporting the resolution -- specifically, she worried whether it was fair to tax those who do not or rarely drive, such as the elderly. But after reviewing information and speaking with other representatives, she said she realized even nondrivers have a stake in transportation. They still rely on it to ship their food, medicine and other goods.

"In a farm community, that made a lot of sense to me," she said. "Everything that comes off our fields, whether it be our grain or our animals, gets eaten somewhere. But it takes trucks ... boats and trains to get there."

State Sen. Wayne Wallingford, R-Cape Girardeau, voted in favor of the amended resolution. Like Lichtenegger, he said everyone in the state relies on transportation in some capacity. But his primary reason for supporting the bill is safety.

Wallingford said he reviewed an assessment in March that found nearly one-third of the state's 10,364 bridges are considered structurally deficient. He said 53 of those bridges are in his district, which encompasses Bollinger, Cape Girardeau, Madison, Perry, Scott and Wayne counties.

"We felt [the measure] was important enough to bring to the citizens of Missouri [and] present the facts of the state of our infrastructure, which isn't a pretty sight, unfortunately," he said.

While he does not support raising or implementing new taxes, Wallingford said he saw the importance of a transportation sales tax because it makes more sense to fund a need now than wait until "something drastic happens."

Another component of the bill supported by Wallingford and Lichtenegger is allocating funds for local transportation needs. If the voters approve the measure, 5 percent of taxes collected would go toward county transportation needs and another 5 percent would go toward municipal needs.

The Missouri Department of Transportation already has requested the public submit potential projects that local transportation officials rate according to priority. The Southeast Metropolitan Planning Organization finalized its project list last week, which included improvements to the Interstate 55 corridor interchange from Fruitland to Scott City and U.S. 61 improvements between the I-55/Fruitland interchange and highways 34/72.

If voters approve the tax, Lichtenegger said she encourages House oversight to ensure funds are being used wisely.

"The key to this, the key to any money that we spend in this state, is appropriations," she said. "What they should be doing, once their appropriation work is done, is those chairmen should be calling for oversight so that we know exactly where that money that we just gave them is going."

srinehart@semissourian.com

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Pertinent address:

Cape Girardeau, Mo.

Jackson, Mo.