Indiana bill to raise gas tax and toll more roads

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  • Paul30

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    Dec 16, 2012
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    Currently they need the feds permission to toll roads. They are not suppose to be able to toll an existing road, but they got around it in Louisville by building another bridge next to it and calling one the north bound lane and one the south bound. Now they want to eliminate the need to ask the feds to toll more roads. 10 cents per gallon tax increase on gas and diesel, etc.

    Oh, as for the claim that all tax money would be used for roads, I have seen this bait and switch before. All tax money may be used for roads, then they withhold OTHER tax money that would have normally been used for roads and raid it as they see fit.

    Indiana lawmakers approve 'harmful' roads plan

    https://iga.in.gov/legislative/2017/bills/house/1002#digest-heading
     

    pute62

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    Jan 29, 2009
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    Lawrence
    I'd just like to see them use some of the money they have now for roads. I've yet to see any patching crews working yet this year.
     

    indykid

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    Jan 27, 2008
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    Westfield
    Gasoline tax increase and a surtax on your license plate.

    And we were told the lotto money would pay for road upkeep.
     

    KMaC

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    Feb 4, 2016
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    Indianapolis
    I have an ethical objection to charging tolls for roads that were built using gas taxes. If the public already paid to build the road they have the right to use it and should not be charged additional fees every time they drive on it.
     

    dung

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    Feb 9, 2017
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    Charlestwon
    I understand gas tax increase, but not more tolls. Our roads bend some serious maintenance and they haven't done squat to our pot holes yet
     

    CampingJosh

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    I have an ethical objection to charging tolls for roads that were built using gas taxes. If the public already paid to build the road they have the right to use it and should not be charged additional fees every time they drive on it.

    This only makes sense if roads require no maintenance.
     

    BugI02

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    Jul 4, 2013
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    Columbus, OH
    If you follow the Ohio model the next thing you'll get is a state commission to oversee the toll roads, paid for out of the increased tolls and taxes. Jobs on that commission will be really, really cush; with startlingly high salaries and all you have to do is attend a few meetings and collect your checks. The sufficiently powerful and connected will flock to those jobs when they can no longer get elected to state political positions, where they will continue to deliver votes to the ones responsible for their sinecure. The commission will do anything to ensure its own survival, up to including selling its own mothers (See: Ohio Turnpike and its namesake commission). Politics will make it impossible to do away with this commission even though by law the tolls were supposed to be lifted and the commission dissolved when the construction bonds were retired, which was almost ten years ago. Instead of returning the road to the people; the commission added 'infrastructure' to its name, took on more projects and more debt (over a billion in new bonds), and also began to distribute toll moneys throughout the state for those 'infrastructure' projects - the more you pay, the more support to let you continue to play

    Just another form of tax, but one the people don't get to vote on and disguised as a needed expense
     

    spec4

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    Jun 19, 2010
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    NWI
    What has always irritated me and seems to occur in many states is that the money stolen from us as gas taxes and license fees don't go 100 % for road building and maintenance. Worse, this is happening under a GOP gov. When I hear a GOP pol use the word "invest", I smell RINO.
     

    KMaC

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    7   0   0
    Feb 4, 2016
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    Indianapolis
    If you follow the Ohio model the next thing you'll get is a state commission to oversee the toll roads, paid for out of the increased tolls and taxes. Jobs on that commission will be really, really cush; with startlingly high salaries and all you have to do is attend a few meetings and collect your checks. The sufficiently powerful and connected will flock to those jobs when they can no longer get elected to state political positions, where they will continue to deliver votes to the ones responsible for their sinecure. The commission will do anything to ensure its own survival, up to including selling its own mothers (See: Ohio Turnpike and its namesake commission). Politics will make it impossible to do away with this commission even though by law the tolls were supposed to be lifted and the commission dissolved when the construction bonds were retired, which was almost ten years ago. Instead of returning the road to the people; the commission added 'infrastructure' to its name, took on more projects and more debt (over a billion in new bonds), and also began to distribute toll moneys throughout the state for those 'infrastructure' projects - the more you pay, the more support to let you continue to play

    Just another form of tax, but one the people don't get to vote on and disguised as a needed expense
    Yeah, Indiana has read the play book. We owed more money on the 20 year old Hoosier Dome when it was demolished than what was borrowed to build it.
     

    HubertGummer

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    Jan 7, 2016
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    McCordsville
    I understand that those who use the roads should pay for them, but we already are paying for them. Maybe if they stopped wasting existing gas tax and registration money on unrelated junk they wouldn't need more.
     

    CampingJosh

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    Dec 16, 2010
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    Maintenance is paid with gas tax too. From planning studies through design, construction and years of maintenance has all been paid for by the taxpayer. Now they want to charge us to use it.

    But maintenance isn't paid for by the gas tax--at least not to the $ amount needed. If it were, this wouldn't be an issue.
     

    Leadeye

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    Jan 19, 2009
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    .
    I'll admit to not knowing much about road construction, but a lot of the "road" money shows up in things for special interests like "creative" trails which cities today just don't seem to be able to live without. How they build the interstate highway by dot hiring a company, that hires a spanish company, that actually hires the contractors is hard for me to understand, but must be supported by big media as they don't investigate this. I expect half of this money at least to be lost to corruption long before roads are built or maintained.
     

    gregr

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    Jan 1, 2016
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    West-Central
    I understand gas tax increase, but not more tolls. Our roads bend some serious maintenance and they haven't done squat to our pot holes yet

    You understand the gas tax increase? I do not. The most basic function of state government is supposed to be infrastructure maintenance but, just like the federal government, they blow our money on everything but what they`re supposed to, then they have to take yet more of our hard earned money to finally do what they`re supposed to be doing anyway. I`m fed up.
     

    NKBJ

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    Apr 21, 2010
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    That cute little beast grew up.
    It isn't human.
    It hungers.

    And nothing but human will satisfy it.
     

    KMaC

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    Feb 4, 2016
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    Indianapolis
    But maintenance isn't paid for by the gas tax--at least not to the $ amount needed. If it were, this wouldn't be an issue.
    Maintenance isn't the financial issue. INDOT operated with a $1B budget before the Toll Road lease money became available. And as was noted above they even have millions for trails and other non-road activities (beautification projects, historic preservation, fancy bridges that cost twice as much but look cool). INDOT has a wish list of capital improvements that has been included in the cited $1.2B "needs". Most of this money is for adding a 3rd lane to every interstate. $1.2B/yr increase essentially doubles INDOT's (pre-Toll Rd lease) budget. That's waaaay above a maintenance need.
    Its more like asking your parents for money for maintenance for your house when you are actually building a new wing.
     

    Paul30

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    I recall Indiana sold the rights to a toll road to Australia for 75 years to get a quick 3.8 million at the time. Investors would not buy it if there were not profit to be made. Makes you wonder if they get this through, how many toll roads will be created just to lease them to a foreign country for a long time.

    New toll roads don't give you the option of paying at the toll booth. They photograph your license plate and bill you by mail. You don't pay, you lose your drivers license. I'm sure they store all the information of what license plates were where when as part of the homeland security program too.

    The Indiana Toll Road: A Model for Privatization?
     
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