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Richard Piatt ReportingUtah lawmakers are struggling with a crushing need for transportation upgrades and no clear way to pay for them all. The bottom line could affect your wallet, one way or the other.
You probably don't think much about I-15 in Salt Lake County these days. All those lanes, new bridges and pavement. But if it had been left the way it was, you would almost certainly be complaining about a lack of planning.
That's why the people charged with that planning are pulling their hair out when it comes to planning forward from now: Huge, expensive projects on the table; No way to pay for them.
Carlos Braseras/ Utah Department of Transportation: "There is going to have to be some discussion about how are we going to fund those needs. How are we going to fund them, what tools are we going to use to bring additional money to the table?"
That could mean a future hike in the sales tax, property tax, gasoline tax--even toll roads. All could be funding tools for both highways and mass transit in the future.
This week, a group tied to the Chamber of Commerce pushed a voter-approved sales tax hike. Salt Lake County is considering a voter approved property tax increase, for light rail.
Both are an effort to combat a funding shortfall for those projects that could be as high as 21-billion dollars over the next 25 years.
Lawmakers already pumped tens of millions toward it. It's not enough.
Sen. Sheldon Killpack, (R) Syracuse: "All we really did was stop the bleeding. We really didn't make the kind of headway we would like to have made."
There is an aggressive push to expand light rail in Salt Lake County; at a hefty price for property owners. But the rest of the state won't escape the financial burden in the future. Higher gas and general sales taxes are likely solutions in the next five years.
The Salt Lake County Council is expected to decide whether to let voters cast a ballot on the light rail property tax hike next week.
