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04/26/2004 08:43 9196443002 <br />punter-friendly story <br />n~wso~s~rv~r.com <br />Money to move <br />OR. CTY. PLANNING PAGE 05106 <br />/~ ~ J t Page 1 of 2 <br />Monday, April 19, 2004 12:OOAM EDT <br />Streets and highways in the Triangle are jammE:d with cars and trucks and more <br />are arriving every day, Air pollution, much of it ozone generated from the exhaust <br />of those gridlocked vehicles, is so bad on some summer days that the <br />Environmental Protection Agency has imposed new air quality standards and is <br />threatening to withhold federal highway funds unless improvements are made. <br />Commercial and residential sprawl continues to ooze outward while the lack of <br />close-in affordable housing causes lower--paid vvorkers to commute further and <br />further to jobs and homes, <br />And if that weren't enough, the Triangle faces a projected shortfall of $8 billion to <br />$10 billion in federal and state funds to meet basic transportation needs over the <br />next 20 years. <br />That is the grim forecast and serious challenge facing Triangle leaders. That the <br />area needs a predictable and increased flow of transportation money is obvicus. <br />What is not so clear is where it will come from. <br />James O. Roberson, president of the Research Triangle Foundation, framed the <br />issue at a meeting of area business and civic leaders last week; "The way <br />government works is just not adequate to keep up with the growth of the area, <br />and we desperately need the ability to pay for some of these projects ourselves." <br />With budget cuts ail the rage in Washington and Raleigh, local governments are <br />likely to keep looking for innovative, effective transportation funding sources. It's <br />important that those sources also be fair to taxpayers. <br />Mayor Charles Meeker of Raleigh favors asking the state for legislation allowing <br />Wake County to put a 5 percent sales tax on gasoline and a $20 increase on <br />local vehicle registrations to pay for local improvements, While that idea has <br />some logic and merit, primarily because it puts the burden of transportation <br />improvements on those who contribute to the congestion on local highways, it is <br />a clearly regressive tax scheme that weighs heaviest on the poor, The working <br />stiff in an old clunker would pay the same tax as a rich executive in a luxury car. <br />A slight increase in property taxes would more progressively and fairly spread the <br />cost, <br />Solving the region's complex and long-term transportation needs may take more <br />http://newsobserver.com/editorials/editorials/v-print/story/3524558p-3127462c.html 4/19/2004 <br />