Answers not easy in paying for Iowa's roads

The cost of maintaining Iowa's road system is rising, and the dollars available to pay for it can't keep up.

That's according to Plymouth County Engineer Tom Rohe.

"The dollars are coming in but the buying power -- what we can buy with those dollars -- has seen a big decrease in the last four or five years," he explained.

How will Iowa pay for the roads that Iowans depend on?

Answers to that question range from traditional to out-of-the-box.

"Some other states have a tire tax or fee (per tire). Another one is based on the number of miles you actually drive. There's been talk about toll bridges or toll roads," Rep. Chuck Soderberg, of Le Mars, said. "There's nothing that's really gotten to the point of legislation being introduced. More like, 'Here's an idea.'"

When gubernatorial hopeful Rep. Chris Rants was in Le Mars, he said a straight gas tax wasn't the answer of the future, since more and more vehicles are shifting to alternative fuels. He proposed looking into some kind of a per-mile tax.

But Sen. Randy Feenstra, of Hull, isn't ready to jump into any plans to bring in more money for roads.

Time-21, a state program that increased vehicle licensing and registration fees, is slated to bring in $50 million for roads in the next few years, he said.

"We're just starting to see the impact of that," Feenstra said. "Last year it was $11 million, and we'll continue to see that grow."

The state is also receiving federal stimulus dollars to the tune of $200 million to redo roads and bridges, he said.

And Governor Chet Culver's I-JOBS program, approved this year, includes $700 million specifically for roads, Feenstra said.

I-JOBS is Culver's plan to update Iowa's infrastructure and at the same time create jobs with $830 million from gaming revenue spread over three years.

With all of that going on, Feenstra said, there are currently more projects than contractors available.

"I don't believe right now is a good time (to seek more road dollars)," Feenstra said. "We don't have the capacity to do more roadwork with the contractors that are out there."

A lot of the money coming in is going toward projects like Highway 20. Once some of those main bridges and thoroughfares are completed, money will be freed up for the Iowa Department of Transportation to do other projects, he said.

"We're held captive on projects that are so massive, they're not allowing money to trickle down," Feenstra said.

Rather than move ahead on a fuel tax or other means of bringing in more dollars for roads, Feenstra suggested waiting a few years until the I-JOBS and stimulus projects all play out.

"To say we need more money in our coffers right now concerns me," Feenstra said.

He is concerned with where Iowa's road money will be spent, however.

"We do have to make sure this money is also being spent in western Iowa," he added. "That takes myself and others advocating for these dollars. The squeaky wheel gets the oil."

Soderberg also said the wait-and-see approach might be appropriate for the time being.

"The stimulus money is slow in coming out of D.C.," he said. "I'm not sure anybody knows how much it will be. We'll have to see with that money if there still is a need."

The federal government is also looking into a gas tax, Soderberg added. That, on top of a state gas tax, could be a significant amount of money for drivers to pay, he said.

"We want to make sure we don't make it a real financial burden to those that are struggling right now," Soderberg said. "The question is, is this the appropriate time?"

County engineer Rohe said while federal stimulus and I-JOBS money are helping, relying on that alone doesn't bode well down the road.

"It's not a sustained effort to maintain the system," he said.

Even though dollars are increasing slightly, Rohe said, the dollars he receives only allow the department to do one-half to two-thirds of what those dollars accomplished a few years ago.

"The price of steel has gone up, and fuel and tires and equipment," Rohe said. "Everything has increased in the last four to five years."

Some resurfacing work in 2005 cost $100,000 per mile, Rohe said. This year, it will cost $200,000 per mile.

"This is happening in the cities. It's happening for the state, too. This is not just counties," Rohe said. "It's all construction across the state."

Rohe said, in his opinion, the best increase would be to raise the road use tax and add 4 or 5 cents to the gas tax.

But the governor has vocally opposed that, he said.

"I don't know what the answer is," Rohe said. "We'll just continue to do what we can with the money we have."