Tom Warne Report, 23 September 2011
South Carolina’s governor said the state transportation department needs to get its finances in order, and not by way of a gas tax increase, just a week after a special DOT committee met to look at ways to increase revenue for the agency. A 16-member committee appointed by the Transportation Commission launched an initiative last week to find more funding for the DOT.
“I’m not looking at a gas tax right now,” Gov. Nikki Haley said, while reiterating that the DOT should be made a cabinet agency. “What I’m looking at is management of the DOT and what they are doing on the inside to fix their own problems before they look at any more revenue.” South Carolina’s 16-cent gasoline tax was last raised in 1987. The agency has faced scrutiny ever since DOT officials said it needed a $52 million cash advance from the federal government to help pay some contractors.
Haley said she is in favor of getting rid of the state Transportation Commission, a seven-member board appointed by lawmakers. Instead, she said it should be directly under her reign, as a Cabinet agency. “I personally think the board needs to go,” Haley said, adding that Transportation Secretary Robert St. Onge should be responsible for setting transportation priorities instead of the commission. Earlier this year, the transportation board approved a $344 million bond package for new roads, including an I-26 link to the Columbia airport and a new freeway to Myrtle Beach. Some lawmakers say the plan ignores the state’s existing roads that are in disrepair.