Voters in counties across the country will decide on transportation taxes
Ballots in counties across the country will ask voters on Nov. 8 whether to raise revenue via taxes for transportation work.
Pinal County, Ariz.
Ballots in Pinal County will ask voters to re-approve a half-cent transportation excise tax.
If approved by voters, the tax would replace a tiered, half-cent cent tax approved by voters in 2017. The 5-year-old tax to benefit transportation was ruled invalid by the Arizona Supreme Court this spring.
The tax exempted larger transactions, which created a two-tier sales tax structure that is illegal under Arizona law.
About $80 million raised via the 2017 tax sits in escrow waiting to be refunded by the state.
The revised transportation tax in the county between Phoenix and Tucson is a straight half-cent sales tax. Revenue raised would fund the regional transportation plan.
Projects that would benefit include a north-south freeway connecting U.S. 60 in Apache Junction with Interstate 10 near Eloy. An east-west corridor linking Maricopa and Casa Grande also is included.
Clarke County, Iowa
Voters in rural Clarke County will decide whether to authorize a one-cent sales tax for transportation.
The 10-year transportation tax is estimated to raise $200,000 over the next decade for road construction, reconstruction and maintenance.
Specifically, funds would be used for secondary roads and bridges in unincorporated areas of the county located south of Des Moines along I-35.
Platte County, Mo.
The fall ballot in Platte County will include a question to renew a sales tax for roads.
For the past 20 years the county located north of Kansas City has collected a 3/8 cent sales tax for new construction and maintenance.
The ballot question will ask voters whether to extend the tax at a rate of one-quarter cent for the next decade.
Tax revenue would be used for transportation-related projects that include roads, bridges, drainage structures, and sidewalks.
A countywide capital projects reserve fund would collect 10% of the tax revenue. The rest would be split between cities and unincorporated areas based on population and current road miles.
Advocates say the continuation of the tax would allow the state’s fastest-growing county to keep up with road maintenance needs.
Dorchester County, S.C.
Voters in Dorchester County will decide whether to continue the collection of a sales tax for transportation work.
The tax was originally approved by voters in 2004. The existing tax is scheduled to end in 2024.
Passage in the county located northwest of Charleston would continue the penny tax for another 15 years.
Tax renewal is estimated to raise up to $735 million for highways, roads, streets, bridges, mass transit systems, and other transportation-related facilities.
Projects include improvements to the Orangeburg Loop and U.S. Highway 78.
The current tax has paid for projects that include road construction, widening major thoroughfares, paving 150 of dirt roads, improving intersections, and resurfacing streets. LL
More election coverage
Keith Goble, the state legislative editor for Land Line Media, keeps track of transportation ballot questions across the U.S. Here are some recent articles by him.
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