Toll roads

BearMtnHIB wrote:

AspenValley wrote: Kind of surprised to see so many "righties" being against toll roads. The conservative position is usually that whomever benefits from something directly should be the one paying for it, as opposed to spreading out the cost to everyone whether they benefit or not. Interesting.

One or the other - but what we have now - is both.

I'm ok with toll roads if they remove the tax from gasoline.

We pay 43.4 cents tax for every gallon of gas consumed in Colorado. All of that money is supposed to be building and maintaining our roads.

Take away the 43.4 cents and I'll be ok with toll roads- just dont ask me to double pay for what I'm already paying for.

So you'd be okay then if you had to pay a toll representing the actual cost of every road you drive on, including the one that leads up to your front door?

Cause I don't think you've done the math on this. Just because there are toll roads on top of existing general taxes doesn't mean you are "paying double", just that the hit to ongoing road and highway budgets from the cost of a brand-spanking highway can sometimes resemble a pig making its way down the digestive canal of a python. So in order to get funding for projects like this, authorities can either raise the level of the general tax, which, gee golly, did you know, tends to STAY high even after the highway is paid for, or they can enact a temporary users tax in the form of a toll until the construction costs are paid for. I know which I'd rather see.

So you'd be okay then if you had to pay a toll representing the actual cost of every road you drive on, including the one that leads up to your front door?

You just don't get it do you? The money they collect is supposed to cover new roads- and maintain the old ones.

I already pay the actual cost - everytime I purchase gasoline.

Try not to be such a dimwit- we already pay for roads with gasoline taxes!

And Ritter just tripled our car registration fees - another double payment.

There's plenty of money available to provide the service- they just piss it away on other things- then expect to get away with providing less or charging twice for what we already paid once for.

This is what I object to- being charged double and getting half what I paid for. It's BS.

BearMtnHIB wrote:

So you'd be okay then if you had to pay a toll representing the actual cost of every road you drive on, including the one that leads up to your front door?

You just don't get it do you? The money they collect is supposed to cover new roads- and maintain the old ones.

I already pay the actual cost - everytime I purchase gasoline.

Try not to be such a dimwit- we already pay for roads with gasoline taxes!

And Ritter just tripled our car registration fees - another double payment.

There's plenty of money available to provide the service- they just piss it away on other things- then expect to get away with providing less or charging twice for what we already paid once for.

This is what I object to- being charged double and getting half what I paid for. It's BS.

Sigh.

So rather than I admit I have a point, you throw in a few insults, repeat the same unconvincing arguments, and call it good, is that it?

Your gas taxes collected for roads and the federal taxes allocated for roads get used for the road with the biggest need, not all the roads even though they all need funds. Therefore the money sometimes is used up before another hwy can be considered.
We have done work for companies involved in road construction and people within those corps say that that is how it's done.
Someone even said that companies lobby so to say to get a contract specific to that hwy or road.(not sure about that, but does seem like it could be. Maybe on the federal level?)

Martin Ent Inc wrote: Your gas taxes collected for roads and the federal taxes allocated for roads get used for the road with the biggest need, not all the roads even though they all need funds.

That's pretty much it. To argue that the gas taxes you already pay should not only pay for all the maintenance of roads already in existence but for infinite amounts of new roads is a little like whining that the amount you used to budget for maintenance on your house won't ALSO cover adding on a brand new 750 square foot addition.

:thumbsup:

Not infinite amounts - the amount that the tax will allow.

I was in the municiple consulting business for 17 years- not in roads but in Water treatment consulting.

I know how the money gets pissed away- I know why the money is not there anymore. I've seen the waste.

There's plenty of money to pave roads- even new ones- if it was done the way it used to be done.

BearMtnHIB wrote: There's plenty of money to pave roads- even new ones- if it was done the way it used to be done.

I suppose you have figures to back that up? And what do you mean by "done the way it used to be done"?

Chain Gangs...

BearMtnHIB wrote:

AspenValley wrote: Kind of surprised to see so many "righties" being against toll roads. The conservative position is usually that whomever benefits from something directly should be the one paying for it, as opposed to spreading out the cost to everyone whether they benefit or not. Interesting.

One or the other - but what we have now - is both.

I'm ok with toll roads if they remove the tax from gasoline.

We pay 43.4 cents tax for every gallon of gas consumed in Colorado. All of that money is supposed to be building and maintaining our roads.

Take away the 43.4 cents and I'll be ok with toll roads- just dont ask me to double pay for what I'm already paying for.

:thumbsup: