CLT UPDATE
Friday, September 21, 2007
Do the recommended reforms now!
As Massachusetts taxpayers are being told to dig
deeper to pay for road and bridge repairs, the Bay State’s highest-paid
former employees are raking in six-figure pension parachutes in
unprecedented numbers, with 85 state retirees now earning $100,000 or
more through the mail, a Herald review found....
“It keeps getting more and more outrageous,” said Barbara Anderson
of Citizens for Limited Taxation. “People are beginning to
understand that their tax dollars are not going to schools or children
or essential services, but to help employees feed off the system.” ...
The state’s pension liability now stands at a whopping $13.3 billion --
a cost that rivals the shortfall in funding for state bridges and roads,
which face a projected deficit of $15 billion to $19 billion over the
next 20 years. A special state commission is recommending an 11.5 cent
gas tax hike and so-called “open-road” tolls on all interstates to help
pay for it.
The Boston Herald
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Pension ten$ion mounts
State taxpayers hand $100G-plus payouts to 85 retirees
Top state lawmakers said yesterday they’re ready to file
legislation to curb pension abuses after a Herald story detailed a sharp rise in
six-figure payouts to state retirees.
The leaders of a legislative committee examining pension costs said they are
weighing plans to outlaw the inclusion of housing allowances, travel expenses
and other reimbursement that former employees have used to pad their pensions.
They are also targeting the practice of double-dipping, in which employees who
work two state jobs lump their salaries together to get the maximum possible
taxpayer-funded payout.
The Boston Herald
Thursday, September 19, 2007
Lawmakers weigh system overhaul
Let me be honest. If I could retire in my 40s with a $134,578
annual pension, I’d do it, too, like retired State Trooper Thomas Robbins, 49,
or Thomas McGilvray, who’s squeezing by on a mere $108,100 at the ripe age of
47....
Will we ever get rid of deals such as these? Said Widmer yesterday, “It seems
well nigh impossible.”
You want to know who could reform state police pension deals? “The Legislature,”
said Widmer. And eliminate details? Deval Patrick.
But Patrick has said before it’s not a top priority. No surprise....
Which begs the question: How come they get to quit in their 40s?
Answer: Because politicians are scared to death of state troopers. Most any
cops, actually.
“You should see the State House whenever there’s a bill pending that (police)
unions consider threatening,” anti-tax czarina Barbara Anderson once told
me. “The place fills up with policemen in uniform -- very big policemen.”
“A sea of blue. In full regalia. And, by the way, they’re armed.” That’s how
Michael Widmer of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation described the scene
when former Gov. Bill Weld tried to get rid of another sweet police deal:
details.
The Boston Herald
Thursday, September 19, 2007
Pols too scared to act on pen$ions
By Margery Eagan
The Patrick administration wants to slash the bloated payroll
at the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, a move aimed at convincing a skeptical
public that the governor will cut costs before pushing for an unpopular toll
hike, the Herald has learned....
Fat salaries at the Pike have long been a source of public outrage. The
authority currently employs 60 “senior toll collectors” who are paid $59,000 a
year, according to payroll records. That’s nearly double the pay of starting
teachers and many assistant district attorneys in Massachusetts.
The Pike payroll also includes 27 employees pulling in $100,000 or more, with 19
others taking home $90,000-plus, according to the Herald’s online payroll
report.
Other high-paid Pike employees include a manager of toll collection, who earns
$82,000, and a landscape architect raking in $71,000, records show....
The Boston Herald
Thursday, September 19, 2007
Gov. seeks to cut jobs at turnpike
The pension beast continues to gobble up obscene chunks of
taxpayer money, and grows hungrier by the year. It’s long past time for
lawmakers to take up one of the pension reform bills that have been languishing
on Beacon Hill for years....
Asking lawmakers to reform the pension system is a little like asking them to
pass term limits. But as long as they refuse to act, we all pay.
A Boston Herald editorial
Thursday, September 19, 2007
Retire outsized pensions
From an 11.5-cent hike in the state gas tax to new 5-cent per
mile highway "user fee," the recommendations highlighted in a transportation
finance report released Monday could prove to be a tough political sell on
Beacon Hill....
But the authors and supporters of the report say ignoring the problem — or
hoping for a magic fiscal bullet from casinos — will only end up costing the
state more down the line.
"We’re concerned that people are expressing their opposition to even opening the
discussion of a gas tax," said Philip Warburg, president of the Conservation Law
Foundation. "It’s a tax that appropriately links major users to the benefits of
improving our infrastructure."
Critics were equally swift to condemn talk about higher taxes, saying that
before lawmakers tap taxpayers, they have to first push through the difficult
reforms also included in the report.
"First do a bill with all the reforms and then let’s come back and talk about
the gas tax increase," said Barbara Anderson of the anti-tax group
Citizens for Limited Taxation.
Associated Press
Monday, September 17, 2007
Gas tax hike, highway user fees
could prove tough political sell
Governor Patrick says he wants to use much of the revenue
from his casino plan to fix decrepit highways and bridges. But he's ignoring
factors that ought to give him pause:
He hasn't got any of the money yet.
He has other priorities, such as healthcare and education....
The commission also proposes policy changes to increase the efficiency of the
state transportation system, including the MBTA. Among the most controversial
are the replacement of police details with flagmen at construction projects, and
restrictions on the growth of MBTA workers' fringe benefits. The Legislature is
loath to touch the prerogatives of the unionized state workforce, but both are
reasonable steps that ought to be taken before taxes or MBTA fares are raised.
Even then, major infusions of money will still be needed to reduce a backlog of
essential repair projects and defray expenses that were imposed on the MBTA when
it had more money.
A Boston Globe editorial
Friday, September 21, 2007
Let drivers pay for roads
For too long we have allowed funding sources for
transportation to dwindle. The gas tax, currently well below other states in
southern New England, has remained flat for 16 years. During that time, it has
lost one-third of its value due to inflation. And while public-transit fares
have risen dramatically, most of our highways remain free to users ...
Earlier this week, the Transportation Finance Commission released a set of
carefully studied yet sobering recommendations to address Massachusetts's
transportation funding shortfall. Included on its list are steps targeting
"inefficiency and waste" at the T and other state agencies. While we need to
explore these opportunities, the 22 cost-cutting steps recommended by the
commission would generate only an estimated $2.5 billion, a fraction of what is
needed to close the transportation funding gap....
Thankfully, the Transportation Finance Commission has gone beyond low-yield
good-housekeeping measures, identifying two major revenue generators as
necessary parts of the transportation funding mix. Increasing the gas tax by
11.5 cents per gallon and then indexing it to inflation is one; stepped-up user
fees for state highway use is another. The gas tax increase alone would generate
$10.5 billion over 20 years; user fees, phased in over the next 10 years, would
yield an additional $5.5 billion by 2027....
The commission recommends a 5-cent-per-mile user fee, implemented through
electronic tolling technology already in use elsewhere in America and abroad.
Transit riders travel on a pay-per-use basis; Massachusetts highway drivers
should do the same.
The Boston Globe
Friday, September 21, 2007
Filling the transportation funding gap
By Philip Warburg and Carrie Russell
But even more outrageous is the oped's assertion that
"Transit riders travel on a pay-per-use basis; Massachusetts highway drivers
should do the same." Not only does public transit (MBTA) depend on and
receive 20 percent of the state sales tax to subsidize its service, but it
also takes a huge bite out of the state's "dedicated" highway fund's revenue
derived primarily from the gas tax. Transit riders pay only a small portion
of what motorist do -- we taxpayers and motorists subsidize their ride. How
disingenuous can Warburg and Russell be?
Letter to the editor, The Boston Globe
Submitted: September 21, 2007
By Chip Ford -- Dir. of Operations
Citizens for Limited Taxation
Chip Ford's CLT Commentary
The public employee pension scam is becoming better
exposed, people can no longer say they're unaware. And goodness
gracious, the Legislature is finally planning to think about some
reforms, that were before them last year if not longer ago. At
least the Legislature is considering them at last -- before it
raises taxes and tolls on us.
"First do a bill with all the reforms and then let’s
come back and talk about the gas tax increase," we say. Not some
reforms around the edges, as most legislators are trying to tip-toe
around -- true reform, now.
Legislators: Don't try to scam constituents
with tweaking outrages too long a fabric of the Bay State's political
culture. You have a short window of opportunity.
Long-overdue reforms will be either accomplished now or likely never
will be.
First do the reforms and then come back, if you must,
and we'll talk about tax increases.
Michael Widmer, president of the
so-called Massachusetts Taxpayer Foundation and a member of the
Transportation Finance Commission, is again talking his usual talk.
He's been talking that talk for over a decade, with his usual success:
Zero. Reforms he's proposed year after year are ignored. He
doesn't quibble -- at the same time he also proposes and supports higher
taxes on regular taxpayers if -- and when -- the Legislature fails to
reform, while fighting for his fat-cat corporate sponsors' tax breaks.
 |
|
Chip Ford |
The Boston Herald
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Pension ten$ion mounts
State taxpayers hand $100G-plus payouts
to 85 retirees
By Casey Ross
As Massachusetts taxpayers are being told to dig deeper to pay for road
and bridge repairs, the Bay State’s highest-paid former employees are
raking in six-figure pension parachutes in unprecedented numbers, with
85 state retirees now earning $100,000 or more through the mail, a
Herald review found.
The number of annual six-figure payouts has skyrocketed by nearly 50
percent in the past two years alone -- from 57 in 2005 to 85 -- and some
of those fat checks are going to golden oldies as young as 47 years old,
state records show. Eight of those retirees are former state police
officials who are 55 or younger, including Reed Hillman, the GOP’s 2006
candidate for lieutenant governor.
“It keeps getting more and more outrageous,” said Barbara Anderson
of Citizens for Limited Taxation. “People are beginning to
understand that their tax dollars are not going to schools or children
or essential services, but to help employees feed off the system.”
The state’s pension liability now stands at a whopping $13.3 billion --
a cost that rivals the shortfall in funding for state bridges and roads,
which face a projected deficit of $15 billion to $19 billion over the
next 20 years. A special state commission is recommending an 11.5 cent
gas tax hike and so-called “open-road” tolls on all interstates to help
pay for it.
Meanwhile, pension costs continue to mount. The growth in
$100,000-per-year pensioners is the result of inflating state salaries
and more of those well-paid boomers reaching retirement age, officials
said.
The escalating costs are spurring calls for reform, with House and
Senate lawmakers probing ways to curtail the size of benefits.
The University of Massachusetts has by far the most members of the
six-figure pension club, with 50 retirees receiving $100,000 or more.
Indeed, they account for the state’s top five pensions, led by former
Red Sox team doctor and part-owner Dr. Arthur Pappas of the UMass
Medical School, who receives $232,000 a year, and former UMass President
Billy Bulger, who receives $197,500.
Some of the six-figure pension bonanzas have been bolstered by the
addition of housing allowances. Since Bulger fought successfully to add
his housing allowance, nearly 20 other state officials have followed
suit. Two ex-college administrators in the $100,000 pension club --
former Springfield Technical Community College head Andrew Scibelli and
former Holyoke Community College president David Bartley -- increased
their payments by $15,000, sparking calls for reform.
Meanwhile, facilities across the university system -- and the state in
general -- are rapidly falling into disrepair. Administrative buildings
are plagued by leaky roofs and malfunctioning heating systems, and
laboratories and classrooms are badly outdated.
UMass officials are planning to spend $2.9 billion over the next five
years to try to catch up with repairs and build new facilities.
A spokesman for the university system said funds for pensions and
capital improvements come from different pools of money and that UMass
retirees earned their benefits over long careers of service.
“UMass employees make contributions into the state pension fund, and
their benefits are calculated the same way other public employees’
benefits are calculated,” spokesman Bob Connolly said. “They are not in
a class by themselves.”
Former state police officials are by far the youngest retirees in the
state system, with two former staties under age 50 receiving pensions
over $100,000. Police officials typically start their state employment
at a younger age, and therefore meet the minimum retirement threshold of
20 years of service earlier in life.
The highest state police pension is being paid to former colonel Thomas
Robbins, 49, who stepped down after 26 years in 2006 to become chief of
the Boston University police. Another state police retiree, Thomas
McGilvray, a former major, is only 47 years old, but claims a $108,000
pension.
The Boston Herald
Thursday, September 19, 2007
Lawmakers weigh system overhaul
By Casey Ross
Top state lawmakers said yesterday they’re ready to file legislation to
curb pension abuses after a Herald story detailed a sharp rise in
six-figure payouts to state retirees.
The leaders of a legislative committee examining pension costs said they
are weighing plans to outlaw the inclusion of housing allowances, travel
expenses and other reimbursement that former employees have used to pad
their pensions.
They are also targeting the practice of double-dipping, in which
employees who work two state jobs lump their salaries together to get
the maximum possible taxpayer-funded payout.
“It’s obvious when you look at the state pensions system that it’s a big
bill for taxpayers to foot,” said state Sen. Ben Downing, co-chairman of
the public service committee. “What we want to do is eliminate the
possibility for abuse of the system.”
The Herald reported yesterday that the number of six-figure state
pensions has increased by nearly 50 percent -- from 57 in 2005 to 85
today -- in the past two years alone. At least three pensioners
receiving $100,000 or more have recently added $15,000 to their payments
by successfully including housing allowances in the calculation of their
benefits.
Among those employees is William Bulger, former University of
Massachusetts president, who took his case to the state’s highest court
to increase his annual pension to $197,000, the state’s second-largest
payout. That case spurred at least 20 other state employees to follow
suit, a trend lawmakers are trying to curb as the Bay State’s pension
liability grows upward of $13.3 billion.
Lawmakers said they do not know how many retirees have engaged in
double-dipping, but there have been some notorious cases. The most
well-known is former Brockton police lieutentant Charles Lincoln, who
boosted his pensions to $140,000 by taking a second job at the Plymouth
jail three years before retiring, then called off sick 251 days.
State Rep. Jay Kaufman (D-Lexington) said the cases of abuse are not the
norm and that most state employees receive modest, hard-earned pensions.
However, he added, the state must act quickly to close loopholes that
are being exploited too easily.
The Boston Herald
Thursday, September 19, 2007
Pols too scared to act on pen$ions
By Margery Eagan
Let me be honest. If I could retire in my 40s with a $134,578 annual
pension, I’d do it, too, like retired State Trooper Thomas Robbins, 49,
or Thomas McGilvray, who’s squeezing by on a mere $108,100 at the ripe
age of 47.
Why not?
This is the state cops’ deal: 60 percent of your pension after 20 years;
75 percent after 25 years.
And what a deal it is, particularly when troopers who’ve pulled me over
on the Mass Pike all look so fit and firm and fighting trim. I bet most
troopers could outrun a Boston cop -- no offense -- well into their 50s.
Maybe even their 60s. Which begs the question: How come they get to quit
in their 40s?
Answer: Because politicians are scared to death of state troopers. Most
any cops, actually.
“You should see the State House whenever there’s a bill pending that
(police) unions consider threatening,” anti-tax czarina Barbara Anderson
once told me. “The place fills up with policemen in uniform -- very big
policemen.”
“A sea of blue. In full regalia. And, by the way, they’re armed.” That’s
how Michael Widmer of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation described
the scene when former Gov. Bill Weld tried to get rid of another sweet
police deal: details.
They cost the state Highway Department alone about $5 million a year,
the new Massachusetts Transportation Finance Commission reports. That
doesn’t include costs paid by cities and towns or costs passed on to
consumers through utilities, which must use details, too.
Will we ever get rid of deals such as these? Said Widmer yesterday, “It
seems well nigh impossible.”
You want to know who could reform state police pension deals? “The
Legislature,” said Widmer. And eliminate details? Deval Patrick.
But Patrick has said before it’s not a top priority. No surprise. Asked
about support of details yesterday, neither Senate President Therese
Murray nor House Speaker Sal DiMasi could give me an answer. No surprise
either.
State Sen. Scott Brown, a Republican, has joined Barbara Anderson and
Stephen Silveira, head of the commission that just proposed the gas tax
hike, in insisting that reforms precede any tax and toll hikes.
“There’s so much angst and distrust in the public,” said Silveira. But
even Brown defended details yesterday. “I feel a lot safer with a police
officer than a flag man.”
Yet ditching details is third on finance man Silveira’s priority list,
followed by reining in MBTA fringe benefits, which he estimated would
save the state $1.1 billion over 20 years. T workers can retire with a
pension, by the way, after 23 years.
You want to know why the MBTA got what it got? Many will tell you it’s
about Paul Cellucci vs. Scott Harshbarger in the 1998 governor’s race.
“It was a close election, and T management folded to keep the unions
happy,” said somebody who was there, “and help Cellucci win.”
Who could fix the MBTA mess? Deval Patrick.
Here’s the top item on Widmer’s reform list: forcing cities and towns to
join the state’s health insurance pool, which he estimates would save
$2.5 billion over 10 years.
“We think the Legislature should’ve gone further and given
municipalities the authority to do it,” Widmer said.
As it is, the Legislature compromised. Almost no towns have joined;
local unions don’t like the idea. The Legislature could do something
about that, too.
In case you feel like letting legislators know you’d appreciate it,
their number is 617-722-2000. So is the governor’s. Maybe if pols were
as scared of voters as they are of cops and unions, we’d get some action
around here.
The Boston Herald
Thursday, September 19, 2007
Gov. seeks to cut jobs at turnpike
By Casey Ross
The Patrick administration wants to slash the bloated payroll at the
Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, a move aimed at convincing a skeptical
public that the governor will cut costs before pushing for an unpopular
toll hike, the Herald has learned.
Patrick aides would not discuss how many jobs will be cut, but in public
statements and in briefing documents, the administration has made clear
that it is aggressively searching for waste in the Turnpike’s $89
million annual payroll.
A financial presentation distributed Monday called for “potential
reduction of current staff” as one way of cutting costs at the
authority, which is battling to plug a $90 million financial hole due to
increasing Big Dig costs and declining toll revenues.
Fat salaries at the Pike have long been a source of public outrage. The
authority currently employs 60 “senior toll collectors” who are paid
$59,000 a year, according to payroll records. That’s nearly double the
pay of starting teachers and many assistant district attorneys in
Massachusetts.
The Pike payroll also includes 27 employees pulling in $100,000 or more,
with 19 others taking home $90,000-plus, according to the Herald’s
online payroll report.
Other high-paid Pike employees include a manager of toll collection, who
earns $82,000, and a landscape architect raking in $71,000, records
show.
The Pike layoffs would be part of a broader effort by Patrick to reform
transportation agencies facing a $19 billion funding shortfall over 20
years. The governor said this week that he is preparing to roll out
transportation reforms focused on “efficiencies and the simplification
of bureaucracy.”
While aides would not discuss specifics, Patrick has been examining ways
to merge operations between the Turnpike Authority and the Massachusetts
Highway Department, two agencies with similar functions but completely
separate staffs and payrolls.
“I don’t see how we can convince the public that the current structure
with the Pike is justifiable,” said state Sen. Mark Montigny (D-New
Bedford), who believes the agency should be dismantled. “We can’t
continue with business as usual.”
The Turnpike board this week postponed a vote on toll hikes inside Route
128 to consider more ways of cutting costs. The maximum toll hike would
be to $1.75 from $1 for non-Fast Lane transactions at Allston and Weston
tolls; the maximum toll hike at the Sumner and Ted Williams Tunnels
would be to $6 from $3.
Turnpike board members say they want to keep the increase significantly
lower, but must find other savings first. The board is also considering
ending Fast Lane discounts and a parking voucher program at a North End
parking garage.
The Boston Herald
Thursday, September 19, 2007
A Boston Herald editorial
Retire outsized pensions
The pension beast continues to gobble up obscene chunks of taxpayer
money, and grows hungrier by the year. It’s long past time for lawmakers
to take up one of the pension reform bills that have been languishing on
Beacon Hill for years.
Yes, it’s true that the vast majority of state workers earn modest
pensions -- about $25,000 a year.
But as the Herald’s Casey Ross reported yesterday, the number of
pensioners collecting more than $100,000 a year has grown nearly 50
percent in the past two years -- from 57 in 2005 to 85.
They include, of course, former Senate and University of Massachusetts
President William Bulger, who gamed the system to inflate his golden
parachute, at $197,486. Not to be outdone, his fellow college presidents
made sure their special perks were reflected in their monthly checks.
Their names, along with state police and doctors at UMass Medical
School, are on the list, too.
And it will only get worse, as more highly-paid state workers reach
retirement age. Officials calculate the state pension liability at an
eye-popping $13.3 billion.
Meanwhile, Treasurer Tim Cahill has filed a bill to restrict a state
pension to “regular compensation,” excluding those Bulger-inspired
perks. Senate Ways and Means Chairman Steven C. Panagiotakos (D-Lowell)
wants to cap all state pensions at $125,000.
And that doesn’t even begin to address the problem of double-dipping by
officials like Convention Center authority chief James Rooney and former
MBTA general manager Michael Mulhern, each of whom collects a fat T
pension while still working highly-paid state jobs.
Asking lawmakers to reform the pension system is a little like asking
them to pass term limits. But as long as they refuse to act, we all pay.
Associated Press
Monday, September 17, 2007
Gas tax hike, highway user fees
could prove tough political sell
From an 11.5-cent hike in the state gas tax to new 5-cent per mile
highway "user fee," the recommendations highlighted in a transportation
finance report released Monday could prove to be a tough political sell
on Beacon Hill.
Gov. Deval Patrick, unveiling a plan to open three casinos in
Massachusetts and bring hundreds of millions in gambling dollars, has
already voiced skepticism to a gas tax hike, both during last year’s
campaign for governor and again last week.
And lawmakers worried about being tagged with the "tax and spend" label
are equally leery of the Transportation Finance Commission’s most
politically toxic suggestions.
But the authors and supporters of the report say ignoring the problem —
or hoping for a magic fiscal bullet from casinos — will only end up
costing the state more down the line.
"We’re concerned that people are expressing their opposition to even
opening the discussion of a gas tax," said Philip Warburg, president of
the Conservation Law Foundation. "It’s a tax that appropriately links
major users to the benefits of improving our infrastructure."
Critics were equally swift to condemn talk about higher taxes, saying
that before lawmakers tap taxpayers, they have to first push through the
difficult reforms also included in the report.
"First do a bill with all the reforms and then let’s come back and talk
about the gas tax increase," said Barbara Anderson of the
anti-tax group Citizens for Limited Taxation.
Warburg said Patrick shouldn’t try to draw a link between possible
casino revenues and the billions needed to fix the state’s
infrastructure.
"We’re concerned the governor is diverting attention to casino gambling
when he needs to be showing leadership in identifying
transportation-specific revenue measures," he said.
The recommendations in the report are designed to help close a gaping
$15 to $19 billion hole in the state’s transportation spending over the
next 20 years.
Other proposals in the plan include:
— Studying the privatization of some roads and bridges;
— Eliminating paid police details on road and bridge construction
projects, replacing them with civilian flagmen;
— Scaling back the MBTA’s pension plan which gives employees full
pension benefits, including free health insurance, after 23 years of
service;
— Transferring the Tobin Bridge from the Massachusetts Port Authority to
the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority.
Many of the proposals are likely to cause a political backlash.
Police unions have fought off every past attempt to eliminate the paid
police details — a coveted perk. MBTA unions have put up an equally
stiff fight at the mention of pension changes — even as the
cash-strapped agency has been forced to raise fares as it struggle to
keep afloat.
Also Monday, members of the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority board opted
to postpone a vote on an anticipated toll hike, saying they wanted to
examine ways to cut expenses first.
The board agreed to the delay after a top turnpike official outlined
projected toll hikes that exceeded previously anticipated amounts.
Executive Director Mary Jane O’Meara said the toll increases that had
been projected since 1999 won’t cover growing expenses for the agency.
Among them are the cost of bonds to pay for the Big Dig project, as well
as health insurance costs that have jumped by double-digit amounts
annually.
Included in the four options O’Meara is proposing is one that would
double the toll to pass through the Boston Harbor tunnels — from $3 to
$6 per vehicle — while also hiking tolls on the turnpike inside Route
128.
The Boston Globe
Friday, September 21, 2007
A Boston Globe editorial
Let drivers pay for roads
Governor Patrick says he wants to use much of the revenue from his
casino plan to fix decrepit highways and bridges. But he's ignoring
factors that ought to give him pause:
He hasn't got any of the money yet.
He has other priorities, such as healthcare and education.
The money expected to be raised from casinos won't fill the 20-year
funding gap, estimated at a minimum of $15 billion by the special
Transportation Finance Commission.
Earlier this week, that same commission provided a menu of financing and
efficiency options that should be considered first.
The commission issued its report on Monday -- the same day the governor
announced that he favors casino gambling in three locations yet to be
selected. Some of the gambling revenue should go to defray the impact of
the local property tax, as he suggested. But why not reserve the rest
for his education initiatives, or for the expansion of health insurance
coverage, now underway? Highways and bridges are best financed through
user fees, such as the gasoline tax.
Casino money simply won't be enough. But the promise of that money
fairly guarantees that lawmakers won't make the tough choices needed to
put the transportation system on a proper footing.
The commission recommended an immediate 11.5-cent increase in the
23.5-cent-a-gallon tax, which will just make up for inflation since
1991, the last time it was raised to generate more transportation money
(2½ cents of the tax is reserved to pay for the disposal of underground
gasoline tanks). Almost everything has grown more costly since then.
Gasoline and highway work certainly have.
The commission also proposes policy changes to increase the efficiency
of the state transportation system, including the MBTA. Among the most
controversial are the replacement of police details with flagmen at
construction projects, and restrictions on the growth of MBTA workers'
fringe benefits. The Legislature is loath to touch the prerogatives of
the unionized state workforce, but both are reasonable steps that ought
to be taken before taxes or MBTA fares are raised.
Even then, major infusions of money will still be needed to reduce a
backlog of essential repair projects and defray expenses that were
imposed on the MBTA when it had more money. At the least, the state
should assume the cost of the $1.8 billion in transit projects it
ordered the MBTA to build as mitigation for the Big Dig.
The Legislature knew when it created the special commission in 2004 that
the state's transportation infrastructure was in trouble. Now that these
tough recommendations are out, the House-Senate Transportation Committee
ought to hold hearings to consider them at length. Allowing this report
to gather dust is a gamble the governor and Legislature shouldn't take.
The Boston Globe
Friday, September 21, 2007
Filling the transportation funding gap
By Philip Warburg and Carrie Russell
The scope of the transportation crisis facing the state is staggering.
According to the state-appointed Transportation Finance Commission, a
$15 billion to $19 billion funding gap looms over crumbling roads,
bridges, and the public transit system.
For too long we have allowed funding sources for transportation to
dwindle. The gas tax, currently well below other states in southern New
England, has remained flat for 16 years. During that time, it has lost
one-third of its value due to inflation. And while public-transit fares
have risen dramatically, most of our highways remain free to users, with
the exception of Western Massachusetts, which has had to shoulder the
burden of turnpike toll increases.
If we want to maintain roads and bridges so they are safe to drive on,
while at the same time invest in an efficient and expanded
public-transit system that will give many Massachusetts commuters a
viable alternative to car travel, we need to be open to bold, new,
revenue-generating ideas. Further delay in key transit projects - like
extending the Green Line to Somerville and Medford, and stepping up
commuter rail service to Worcester - will only drive up their price tags
while postponing urgently needed economic revitalization, congestion
relief, and reductions in global warming pollution.
Earlier this week, the Transportation Finance Commission released a set
of carefully studied yet sobering recommendations to address
Massachusetts's transportation funding shortfall. Included on its list
are steps targeting "inefficiency and waste" at the T and other state
agencies. While we need to explore these opportunities, the 22
cost-cutting steps recommended by the commission would generate only an
estimated $2.5 billion, a fraction of what is needed to close the
transportation funding gap.
The Patrick administration and legislators must open their eyes to the
magnitude of the challenge facing the transportation system. Thankfully,
the Transportation Finance Commission has gone beyond low-yield
good-housekeeping measures, identifying two major revenue generators as
necessary parts of the transportation funding mix. Increasing the gas
tax by 11.5 cents per gallon and then indexing it to inflation is one;
stepped-up user fees for state highway use is another. The gas tax
increase alone would generate $10.5 billion over 20 years; user fees,
phased in over the next 10 years, would yield an additional $5.5 billion
by 2027.
Casino gambling, which Governor Patrick endorsed at precisely the hour
that the Transportation Finance Commission went public with its report,
should not divert the governor's or the public's attention from the need
for transportation-specific revenue-generating measures. Competition for
casino gambling revenues will be fierce; we need guaranteed funds
dedicated to providing safe, efficient travel for Massachusetts drivers
and transit riders.
The Massachusetts gas tax today remains where it has been since 1991 --
at 23.5 cents per gallon. New York now charges 42.4 cents per gallon;
Connecticut's tax stands at 37 cents; and Rhode Island's tax is 31 cents
per gallon. Bringing our tax rate up to 35 cents per gallon would do no
more than bring Massachusetts into line with its southern neighbors. And
the benefits would be enormous.
Some argue that, over time, as cars become more fuel-efficient, the
revenue-generating muscle of a gas tax increase will subside. This
argument ignores the fact that total vehicle miles driven in
Massachusetts have consistently risen over the past decade -- a trend
that is likely to continue. Moreover, the commission's estimate of $10.5
billion in additional gas-tax-generated revenues assumes a 15 percent
increase in fleetwide fuel efficiency by 2026 -- a step that we have yet
to see Congress or the president endorse. Without that increase, the
proposed gas tax increase would bring in about $12.5 billion.
In addition to the gas tax, the state must be open to exploring ways to
spread the cost of maintaining the state's roads to the broader
population of highway drivers. The commission recommends a
5-cent-per-mile user fee, implemented through electronic tolling
technology already in use elsewhere in America and abroad. Transit
riders travel on a pay-per-use basis; Massachusetts highway drivers
should do the same.
It's clear that we should maximize the benefit of each dollar of public
investment by ensuring that transportation agencies are as lean and
efficient as possible, but better housekeeping alone will not meet
transportation needs. The time for bold action and real long-term
solutions has come. If we want a safe and reliable transportation
system, we can no longer turn a blind eye to the hard decisions that
need to be made.
Philip Warburg is president of the Conservation Law Foundation.
Carrie Russell is a staff attorney at the foundation.
Letter to the editor
The Boston Globe
Submitted: Friday, September 21, 2007
Re: Oped, "Filling the transportation funding gap" by Philip
Warburg and Carrie Russell
In the oped, "Filling the transportation funding gap" (Sep. 21), Philip
Warburg and Carrie Russell asserted that the Transportation Finance
Commission "has gone beyond low-yield good-housekeeping measures,
identifying two major revenue generators as necessary parts of the
transportation funding mix." They list as an 11 1/2 cent per gallon
increase in the gas tax and a 5-cent-per-mile user fee.
In the Jan./Feb 1991 issue of AAA's membership update, following the
last gas tax increase due to infrastruction neglect, it reported: "[the
additional] $120 million . . . was supposed to be used as cash to
leverage federal matching funds for road and bridge projects. But after
the Executive Office of Administration and Finance moved in with a
dazzling series of cuts, transfers, and reallocations -- not to mention
"freezing" $89 million to help offset the deficit -- only $7.4 million
of the original $120 million remained."
But even more outrageous is the oped's assertion that "Transit riders
travel on a pay-per-use basis; Massachusetts highway drivers should do
the same." Not only does public transit (MBTA) depend on and receive 20
percent of the state sales tax to subsidize its service, but it also
takes a huge bite out of the state's "dedicated" highway fund's revenue
derived primarily from the gas tax. Transit riders pay only a small
portion of what motorist do -- we taxpayers and motorists subsidize
their ride. How disingenuous can Warburg and Russell be?
Chip Ford --
Director of Operations
Citizens for Limited Taxation
NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this
material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior
interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes
only. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
|
