A threatened de facto tax increase mainly on denizens in the Lake Charles area now seems set to wither away by the time incoming governor Republican Atty. Gen. Jeff Landry takes command.
That was the proposal by the outgoing Democrat Gov. John Bel Edwards to have tolls finance $1.3 billion of a projected $2.1 billion to construct a new Interstate 10 bridge across the Calcasieu River in Lake Charles, as well as perform some widening around its bases. The remainder of the money the state planned to leverage with a mix of state and federal dollars, primarily complemented by a $40 million a year revenue stream from the switchover of vehicle taxes from the general fund to transportation.
The plan announced this summer raised hackles immediately. The economics behind it weren’t all that bad, in that users rather than general taxpayers statewide would foot the bill, and likely it could have been completed at lower cost through a public-private partnership relying on tolls to keep the state’s maintenance costs close to zero for a half-century.
But the problem was local drivers just trying to get around would end up paying per trip tolls of at least two dollars, perhaps summing to substantial annual amounts depending upon how peripatetic their journeying, or otherwise facing substantial lengthy and time-consuming detours as they maneuvered around Lake Charles and in particular to and from Westlake. The idea would have had negative economic consequences either by siphoning money out of the users or in lowering productivity with all the wasted gas and travel time.
Accordingly, not long after statewide elections confirmed Landry’s path to the governor’s mansion, the Legislature’s transportation committees met jointly to vet a deal that the state had struck with a consortium of builders to engage in a public-private partnership to build the new bridge over seven years. After debate, the House Transportation Committee’s Republican majority quashed the idea minus GOP state Rep. Barbara Freiberg who joined with its Democrats present unanimously in support after a move to delay consideration by Freiberg failed.
Afterwards, the Edwards Administration announced it would pursue rehabilitation the existing structure, deemed structurally deficient by federal authorities, that would extend the bridge’s lifespan perhaps three decades or around a third of the expected life of a new bridge. In fact, the cost for doing so would not match the $800 million in scratch money, but it argued eventually a replacement would have to be built, even if in stages over the years, that would require additional monies.
Not that the state doesn’t have plenty. Just this past legislative session alone nearly $2 billion was pumped into a variety of capital projects, some worthy, others less so, or put away into funds constitutionally or statutorily required. One such recipient, the Revenue Stabilization Trust Fund, which could be used to pay for a new bridge immediately by legislative supermajorities, has $3 billion in it.
But that would leave fewer bucks to spread around than by indirectly taxing people around Lake Charles and long-haul out-of-staters and make government smaller, so the Edwards Administration made a never-say-die announcement that it would continue to solicit bids for a P3 toll bridge until Feb. 1, over three weeks after Landry assume office. Given the rebuffing of the former awardee, it’s highly unlikely anybody would make an offer, and once Landry takes over, expect the opportunity to go away.
The dual track rehabilitation and new bridge strategy produces the best return on investment without unduly burdening a subset of Louisianans. The RSTF when above $5 billion can have up to a tenth of it included in annual capital outlay, which could provide a steady stream of financing in a few years for the new structure, and don’t forget that now with Louisianans occupying the top two positions in the U.S. House of Representatives and a reasonable expectation that will continue for the next few years that special attention will go to ensuring federal funds are there to help.
That strategy adheres best to the sea change approaching in Louisiana government that shies away from growing government and places greater emphasis on letting people keep more of what they earn.
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