Cutting Down the $3.8-billion Transportation Wish List
January 26th, 2007The last time Governor Guinn appointed a “Blue-Ribbon Commission” it pronounced Nevada’s tax system “structurally deficient,” leading to the largest per-capita expansion of state taxing and spending in the history of Nevada. The action moved Nevada from below-average per-person taxation to above average. And, in retrospect, we now know that the Blue-Ribbon Commission was… well, wrong.
Now, another Guinn BRC has pronounced the Silver State laboring under a $3.8-billion dollar transportation deficit. I’ve learned several lessons since failing to stop the destructive policies of the ‘03 tax BRC, so yesterday I started a little earlier in the process to debunk this latest Guinn legacy.
A reporter, listening to the exchange on the Internet, wrote me:
So was the shortfall overstated… Or not? (Sorry, but most of the conversation was impenetrable.)
I wrote back:
By more than half.
$3.8-billion is the total of the wish list that Guinn’s committee wants built over the next eight years.
After the hearing, DOT showed me a spreadsheet that if they borrowed (sold bonds) to finance that wish list as rapidly as Guinn wants, we would need $1.35-billion in bond payments over the same period.
This would be equivalent to a renter “needing” a new half million dollar house within the next five years, but only having $40,000 per year disposable income (after basic expenses) totaling $200,000 over the five years. One way to present this is the person has a half million dollar deficit (which is the way the blue ribbon committee presented it). Another way is to say the person has a $300,000 deficit (the half million dollar house minus the $200,000 extra income they could apply to it. Another way is to say the person could move in today, if they took out a 30-year mortgage and made the mortgage payments with the $200,000 extra income. At the end of five years, they would still owe money on their mortgage, but they would have been living in their “needed” house for five years.
$1.35-billion is how much the mortgage payments would be if we used 20-year bonds to finance the Guinn group’s 8-year wish list, less than half their claimed deficit. And this change still doesn’t look at the wish list to see if it might be done over 20-years instead of 8, which might well mean there is no deficit at all.
February 4th, 2007 at 12:32 pm
[...] Cutting Down the $3.8-billion Transportation Wish List The last time Governor Guinn appointed a “Blue-Ribbon Commission” it pronounced Nevada’s tax system “structurally deficient,” leading to the largest per-capita expansion of state taxing and spending in the history of Nevada. The action moved Nevada from below-average per-person taxation to above average. And, in retrospect, we now know that the Blue-Ribbon Commission was… well, wrong. [...]
February 7th, 2007 at 9:55 am
I did not see what the budget was about; but if it was about railroads - I can not disagree because in the last year we saw a lot of potential water engines. The first water engine was demonstrated some 30 years past. Water engines can make gas absolete. BUT maybe gas industry or the monopoly owns the banks or worse the FED RESERVE. Result: global warming, monopoly and wars.
With water engines, I can see a lot of cars, trucks, buses, and traffic. That is another reason why I think we need to allocate some 10 lanes each way. If that budget is help to allocate some 10 lanes each way - I support that.
Another reason for 10 lanes - to help people evacuate fast in times of disasters. To help pilots find a place to land in terms of accidents or special need. To help Challenger find a quick place to land.
The problem with us in terms of building or planning roads, we do not look to support future needs. And this future can be for the next 2,000 years.
February 10th, 2007 at 10:29 am
How about allowing non-union construction companies to bid on State Highway jobs? Right now my understanding is that there is a governor’s executive order from three or four governors back saying contracts will only be signed with union companies. Governor Gibbons could resend that executive order with the stroke of a pen and save Nevada Taxpayers probably about 30% off construction costs.
At least is would let the market determine the lowest possible price instead of the union inflated one.