Gov. Jim Doyle needs to be more forthright with Wisconsin residents about the tax and fee increases tucked away in his budget.
His transportation budget, for example, would authorize spending $242 million to start reconstructing and possibly expanding North-South Interstate 94 from the state line to about Holt Ave. in Milwaukee. There are two immediate problems with the proposal, even without debating the merits of reconstruction or expansion.
Problem No. 1: The environmental and engineering studies for the project aren’t done, and no one knows how much rebuilding the freeway will cost. (Given the Department of Transportation’s history, the price will rise significantly from whatever figure WisDOT comes up with in the first place.) Doyle is trying to commit the state to future major expenses before we know if we can afford them.
Problem No. 2: The governor proposes borrowing $90 million of the $242 million mentioned above. The 37-percent borrowing ratio is the same as it was for the Marquette Interchange project, as Doyle’s budget points out. What Doyle doesn’t mention – golly, it must have slipped his mind – is that the North-South project would be far, far more expensive than the Marquette, and using the same borrowing ratio would be far, far more expensive for Wisconsin residents.
The Marquette is supposed to cost about $810 million; the North-South is supposed to cost as much as $1.6 billion or more. The math isn’t complicated.
The federal Department of Transportation, meanwhile, is making it pretty clear that it isn’t going to be as generous in sharing highway construction costs as it has been in the past.
Hmm. Massive new state highway projects with massive new borrowing and (probably) less federal help in the form of cold, hard cash.
Sounds like more and more tax and fee increases are on their way.
Doyle should have made that clear.
Gretchen Schuldt is co-chair of Citizens Allied for Sane Highways (CASH).
