Issue Position: Taxes
Issue Position
Like them or not, we all have to pay taxes. That is how government is supposed to pay its way; we all share the burden. Some taxes are used more wisely than others and end up accomplishing more for the collective good than others. But there is one tax (some may play games of semantics and call it a "use fee" or other similar names), but it is still us paying for services that the government is supposed to provide; and this is the most unfair tax in the State of Oklahoma. It is a tax that we in the northeast corner of the state and all along the I-44 corridor from the Missouri State Line to Lawton pay on a disproportionately unfair rate! Not only that, but it is based on the biggest lie ever told to the Oklahoma voters by the State. Of course, I'm talking about the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority and the TAX that we all pay for the privilege(?) to drive on their roads.
It was before my time, but I've been told by lots of knowledgeable folks more senior than I, that the Oklahoma voters were sold a bill of goods back in 1954. They were told that the O. T. A. was being set up to build and pay for the H. E. Bailey Turnpike, the Turner Turnpike and the Will Rogers. The sales pitch was that once the bonds were paid off the O. T. A. would be dissolved. Well, here we are seven (7) other turnpikes and sixty-seven years later and we are still paying this unfair tax. I talked with one Ottawa County businessman that says he pays between $5,000 and $7,000 in turnpike fees every month just to move his product to customers. That translates to as much as $84,000 that a potential competitor on I-40 or I-35 wouldn't have to pay each year. More importantly, there is no easy solution to this problem as the O. T. A. has outstanding bonds until 2031 and it cannot legally be dissolved until the bonds are paid in full. Anyone care to guess as to whether, if left unchecked, the Authority will find other excuses to issue more bonds so as to continue its existence? Its own website www.pikepass.com/about/GeneralInformation.aspx, says the Authority currently has plans for a total of thirty-two (32) toll road projects!
Here are my problems with the turnpike tax:
The tax is fundamentally unfair. It is expected that the state provide us with adequate roads. So we have I-40 and I-35. All Oklahomans pay taxes for those roads. But I-44? There are no general state taxes that pay for it. It is primarily those of us that live, work and have businesses along it who have to pay this extra tax for it to exist. We get the same kind of road, the same law enforcement, etc. as those on I-40 and I-35, but we get this unfair extra cost. We all know that it is the income from the Will Rogers, the Turner and the H. E. Baily turnpikes (and now we need to add the Creek and Kilpatrick Turnpikes), i.e. the I-44 corridor, that have sufficient traffic to keep the whole system afloat. We have paid for the original three roads many times over, it is just that the Authority keeps spending money on other roads that can't and never will pay for themselves that keeps the system in debt. In addition, again according to its own website, "Since 1992, the Authority has received, and immediately remitted to ODOT over $365 million." In other words, those of us on I-44 have paid a large portion of an additional $365 million for other roads that other Oklahomans get to use but don't have to pay for, because we on I-44 are paying for it.
The Authority answers to nobody. The Authority claims that is ". . . an instrumentality of the State of Oklahoma and a body corporate and politic." In other words, it is a part of the State, but to whom does it answer? Nobody. Not the voters, not the legislature. Members consist of the Governor and six (6) appointees of the Governor, with the approval of the Senate. But they serve 8 year terms; that means no Governor is going to be around to reappoint them (or not) as each Governor also only gets a maximum term of eight years. Once they are appointed, they get to do whatever they want.
The turnpike is always under construction during the "building months". Those of us from Ottawa County are probably more aware of this than any other Oklahomans. Have you ever noticed how continuous Will Rogers's Turnpike construction is, compared to I-44 in Missouri? They have basically the same weather and very similar geological conditions, yet it is very rare they are having to resurface the road as opposed to the Oklahoma side of the line. I have talked with engineers that basically say the problem is twofold. First, in some instances, we simply did not build it right to begin with; and secondly the amount and weight of the traffic far exceeds what the turnpike was built for and the road base is simply worn out. So every couple of years we are slapping a new surface on the road and never fixing it right.
As I said earlier, there is no easy solution to this unfair tax because of the way the Authority has us locked up until 2031. As the Authority brags on its website, "The bond debt is currently $1.2 billion and is scheduled to be paid off in 2031, assuming no additional debt is incurred (emphasis added)."
Well, here is what I think will make a good start on this problem, and if elected as your Representative for House District 7, I will introduce as legislation and fight for:
That from here on out each and every new toll road project must be approved by a majority of both houses of the legislature and the Governor. In other words, a bill would have to be passed authorizing each new project. Further, no new project can be considered by the legislature without an economic impact study being first submitted to the legislature showing that the new road will be able to pay for itself without support from the existing toll roads.
The Authority cannot issue any other bonds, other than to shorten the term of existing bonds or lower the interest rate on existing bonds without extending the term thereof, without legislative approval.
The Authority cannot enter any other contracts (such as gas stations leases) for a term beyond longest term of existing bonds, without legislative approval.
Further, the Authority cannot undertake any new classification or type of rate hike or other types of expenditures that it does not have in effect at the time of the enactment of the legislation, without legislative approval.
The Authority cannot have more than a reasonable number of construction projects (my thought is that two is a reasonable number) going on at the same time on either direction of any one turnpike, except in the case of an emergency. The legislation would define "emergency"as an unexpected situation creating a great risk of property damage or personal injury to workers or users of the turnpike or other roads that cross it, if the problem is not quickly fixed. Any construction project (closing of one or more lanes for construction or repair) must include a base to driving surface engineering study and the project must correct all defects to the highest ODOT standands (i.e. the Authority can't just resurface the turnpikes anymore, it must FIX them correctly). Construction projects must be reasonable in the distance for which a lane is shut down (I am thinking 10 miles is a good starting place). The point of this is to prevent the Authority from deciding to close down one lane from the State Line to Tulsa of the Will Rogers, for example, and just consider it as one project.
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