Most agree that there is not enough money in the Mississippi Department of Transportation’s kitty to do all the repair work that the state’s road and bridges need.
MDOT officials and the state Transportation Commission have been saying that for years. So have counties and cities, begging for state assistance to deal with deteriorating infrastructure. So has much of the business community and the organizations that represent them, such as Delta Council and the Mississippi Economic Council.
The Legislature has responded at times. It earmarked a cut of the proceeds from gaming taxes and the state lottery to transportation, and it has done the same for cities and counties from taxes collected on online purchases. It occasionally has made significant one-time appropriations, too, such as in 2023 when it kicked in a supplemental appropriation of more than $600 million for new construction and maintenance.
But it’s not enough, largely because the Legislature and those who have served as governor the last few decades have put greater emphasis on keeping taxes low than on building and fixing roads and bridges.
That same tension is currently in the foreground as the Republicans who control state government are fixated on figuring out how to further reduce or eliminate taxes, whether it be the state’s modest income tax, its high tax on groceries or both. What they are less interested in is dealing with the problem of constructing since the late 1980s more four-lane roads than there has been revenue provided to keep them maintained.
This wouldn’t be such a problem if only the Legislature had used common sense and adjusted the excise tax on fuel regularly for inflation. That tax has stood at 18.4 cents a gallon since 1987, even while the costs of construction have not just kept pace with inflation but far exceeded it.
Recently, a legislative panel that was created to talk about tax reform heard from an infrastructure consultant who said that by the year 2040, there will be a $500 million-per-year gap between what’s needed for roads and bridges and how much revenue the current streams will produce.
She said if the state were to raise the gas tax just up to the national average of 30 cents a gallon, that would produce an extra $373 million a year. Still motorists would be getting off cheaply. Had the 18.4-cent tax been adjusted for inflation, it would be 52 cents a gallon today. Had that happened, there would be no revenue shortage for transportation and probably even more four-lane roads.
The consultant said there are other ways to shore up the revenue, such as adding a dedicated sales tax for infrastructure, tacking on road user fees or continuing to make supplemental appropriations from the state’s general fund. In fact, she recommended a blend of approaches rather than depending so heavily on the per-gallon excise tax.
She may be right, but nothing will work for long unless the Legislature accepts that those who use the roads are going to have to pay more for the privilege than they have been.
