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Title:

MINOR RURAL ROADS: FINANCE TRENDS AND ISSUES

Accession Number:

00345341

Record Type:

Component

Availability:

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Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/03611981

Abstract:

The local rural road problem is primarily one of finance. The purpose of this paper is to examine the sources and trends in local rural highway revenues and expenditures, to identify issues, and to explore solutions. Revenue for local rural roads ($3.1 billion for 1979) is generated equally by the local jurisdictions and by state and federal grants-in-aid. Local jurisdictions rely almost entirely on property taxes and general revenues for local support for highways. However, road-user charges provide a substantial portion of the local road burden via shared state user-tax revenue. Because of the role of the local rural road, some claim that this shared financial burden (user and nonuser support) is justified. Others argue that users should cover all highway costs. County roads programs are oriented toward routine maintenance of conditions. In fact, local road maintenance has increased in real dollars since 1970, whereas capital road improvements have dropped by one-fourth. Consequently, local road conditions are judged to be declining. The conclusions reached are that (a) existing local rural road revenue sources are imperiled by energy conservation and voter demands for fiscal restraint, (b) local road programs are basically maintenance operations and user charges ought to cover the cost, and (c) revenue sources are available. Specifically, local governments should expand road-user tax revenues by redefining existing taxes as user fees and dedicating them to highway use and by exploring the creation of new user revenue instruments and mechanisms such as a local gasoline tax that piggybacks the state tax. Finally, local governments need to articulate the condition of local roads and what that means in terms of costs of government, local economy, and road user. (Author)

Supplemental Notes:

Publication of this paper sponsored by Task Force on Local Transportation Finance. Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.

Monograph Accession #:

01411622

Authors:

Cooper, Thomas W
Kane, Anthony

Pagination:

pp 15-20

Publication Date:

1981

Serial:

Transportation Research Record

Issue Number: 813
Publisher: Transportation Research Board
ISSN: 0361-1981

Conference:

60th Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board

Location: Washington District of Columbia, United States
Date: 1981-1-12 to 1981-1-16

ISBN:

0309032547

Media Type:

Print

Features:

Figures (4) ; References (6) ; Tables (2)

Subject Areas:

Finance; Highways; Society; I10: Economics and Administration

Files:

TRIS, TRB

Created Date:

Jan 29 1982 12:00AM

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