Agenda - 06-17-1986 - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

AN OVERVIEW: • • 18` The "Roads to the Future". plan recognizes that North Carolina has urgent needs which must be addressed by.the Highway Fund, and it recognizes that a combination approach offers the best solution. The Transportation Trust Fund proposed under the plan is worthy of special • note. The highway account of the Trust Fund would be sustained by the dedication of seven percent of the Highway Fund. ($57.3 million in FY 87-88, $61.9 million by FY 91-92). Smaller revenue amounts from existing tax sources for aviation, rail and public transportation would be dedicated into separate accounts for those programs. The highway account would provide funds for local governments through a no-interest loon program and would be used to balance highway spending by highway divisions on a per capita basis. The Transportation Trust Fund would be brought to bear in a number of ways and its structure and operation are detailed separately. y Because of the urgency of the highway funding problem, the governor's. proposal recommends immediate action. For FY 86-87 an $85 million one-time initial funding for the new Transportation General Fund transfer would provide init Trust Fund ($70 million and supplementarfunding.for both the Powell Bill and Secondary Roads Programs ($7.5 million added to each for a total FY 86-87 allocation of more than $56 million). ` 2 3/4 cents per gallon motor fuel lax increase (bringing 4 , the state tax to 15¢/gal.) and a two-year staggered registration plan for automobiles, motorcycles and light trucks would take effect early in the fiscal year. The tax increase and staggered registration ($40 every two years for license plates instead . of $20 per year) would produce more than $90 million during the year which begins July 1, 1986. Additionally, DOT cost savings totaling more than $21 million during FY 86-87, part of the governor's proposals, would further enhance the buying power of the Highway Fund. In FY 87-88 and subsequent years, there would be no General Fund transfer to the Highway Fund. However, the strength of the highway program would be enhanced by transferring funding responsibility for the Highway Patrol and the Drivers Education Prorgram to the General Fund. These transfers would initially permit an additinnal j9?_5 million to be dedicated to road work, and that amount would grow over time because of reducing the inflationary impacts in the cost of the patrol and driver education. At the same time the transfers take effect, the funding formula for the Powell Bill and Secondary Roads Programs would be changed. Presently, 1 3/8 cents per gallon of the motor fuel tax is dedicated to each program. The "Roads to the - Future" proposal would dedicate seven percent of the Highway Fund to each program,