There is probably no more important aspect of any business or any idea than sales or selling it.
Which is accomplished with sales or talking points, of which often one is key to clinching the deal.
In mid-2017, when Gov. Jim Justice launched his Roads to Prosperity initiative, for a statewide $2.6 billion road bond, a handful of sales points were sold voters.
Some were less than attractive while others looked to be in the down the road category, no pun intended.
For instance, the increases on DMV fees, wholesale gas taxes and a 1 percent sales tax hike on new vehicles approved by the Legislature didn’t generate a lot of excitement for Roads to Prosperity. Although those revenue streams are essential to pay off these bonds in the next 25 years, they were also targeted for “pay-as-you-go” projects, such as paving, slides, bridges and other local road improvements.
Borrowing billions of dollars was also not much of an enticement to voters, either, who realize payments on those bonds will come due soon.
Furthermore, the major highway projects these general obligation bonds were aimed at were expected to be under construction for years.
So exactly what was it that sold state voters and our newspaper on this bond package in October 2017?
What sold us was we were told that bond money for big highway and bridge projects would free up additional millions for maintenance.
That is, money that would otherwise be used for pay-as-you-go projects and major construction projects would be used for maintenance and repairs of secondary roads.
Two winters later it’s clear that never happened. Instead, judging by Justice’s announcement last week we’re still facing bad choices.
Use part of that existing bond money for general maintenance and repairs or continue to watch our secondary roads disintegrate.
Justice has also proposed using pay-as-you-go money (intended to pay down future road bond debt) and even state general revenue surplus.
But there is still no explanation why the DOH’s funds normally allocated to major road projects are not part of this equation.
Did lawmakers cut the DOH’s budget as a result of the passage of Roads to Prosperity? Have increasingly worse road conditions swallowed that money? Has that money been unevenly distributed to counties?
We urge legislators to seek audits and answers about what happened to those funds.
Also last week, Justice dismissed his top salesman for Roads to Prosperity — the state transportation secretary. His interim replacement is a former Justice business crony with no highways experience.
Wonder what kind of bill of goods he’ll try to sell us?
Morgantown Area News
'Friday, April 19, 2024'
