WHEREAS Club 20 was founded in 1953 to support needed transportation infrastructure on the Western Slope; and
WHEREAS an efficient, high quality, convenient transportation infrastructure is key for economic recovery and vitality; and
WHEREAS the lack of a long-term transportation bill impacts transportation project planning and funding for the future; and
WHEREAS the cost of maintaining our transportation system continues to increase while revenues continue to decline; and
WHEREAS much of our surface transportation infrastructure is in need of repair or replacement due to continuing budget shortfalls; and
WHEREAS without sufficient funding the state of Colorado is falling further and further behind in keeping up with population and price increases to build and operate our transportation system, and
WHEREAS Club 20 has continually fought long and hard for many years to preserve our statewide transportation system and has opposed all efforts to regionalize our transportation system through Regional Transportation Authorities (RTAs), which are a serious threat to rural areas of the state, and
WHEREAS the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT), the regions and local jurisdictions have demonstrated the ability to collaborate, innovate and right-size projects to meet current economic conditions.
I. FUNDING MECHANISMS:
WHEREAS it is extremely difficult to plan and operate a transportation system without predictability of funding, and
WHEREAS all vehicles cause wear and tear on our roads and contribute to increasingly higher maintenance costs to the Colorado Transportation System, and should be responsible for similar equitable contributions to the Highway User Tax Fund (HUTF), and
WHEREAS the HUTF is not sufficient to maintain, operate and build new capacity to our existing infrastructure, and
WHEREAS CDOT and local entities should cooperate on locally or privately funded improvements consistent with regional and state transportation plans and procedures, and
WHEREAS continuing resolutions by the U.S. Congress do not give any predictability to Transportation contractors to build and maintain our transportation infrastructure, and
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that in regard to possible funding mechanisms; Club 20:
- Supports a comprehensive and geographically balanced approach to funding a statewide transportation system which includes reasonable multiple funding mechanisms, so long as the funds are dedicated to improving the entire state transportation system, including a fair and equitable share for rural Colorado, and
- Calls on the President of the United States, the US Congress and the Colorado State Legislature to address the lack of funding and reduced prioritization of our transportation system with a solution to maintain and expand our state and the nation’s infrastructure, and
- Encourages a robust dialogue and analysis from all agencies regarding funding mechanisms to adequately fund our local, state and federal transportation systems, and
- Supports a study of “vehicle miles traveled” (VMT) tax as long as appropriate adjustments are made to mitigate the burden on rural drivers who are faced with longer driving distances, and
- Supports raising the Colorado gas tax to be used for highway projects and maintenance and encourages the legislature to regularly review and consider future inflation, adjusting the gas tax as necessary, and
- Supports legislation or other funding mechanisms that result in collecting equitable amounts of funding from all vehicles (excluding tax exempt vehicles) regardless of fuel type for road maintenance and construction, and those funds will be dispersed through the HUTF, and
- Supports raising the Colorado Sales Tax, not to exceed one cent per dollar, to be used for highway projects and maintenance, and any sales tax collected must go into the Highway Users Tax Fund, which is constitutionally protected so that it cannot be raided or used for any other purpose than road and bridge construction and repair, as well as implementing a cap on the amount of money being dedicated to transit at no more than 15% and with the added language that states that these revenues will be exempt from all TABOR caps, and
- Supports the re-authorization of a Federal Transportation Bill, including the enhancement program, which provides funds for projects related to transportation, though not always directly involving pavement, and
- Supports bonding against future CDOT revenue, as long as there is a stable and sustainable funding source available to repay the debt, and it will not hinder maintenance of our current transportation system now and into the future.
II. PUBLIC EDUCATION:
WHEREAS Club 20 acknowledges the role of transportation in regional and statewide economic development and the need to help the public understand the importance of investing in our statewide system; and
WHEREAS a sound public understanding of the transportation funding is vital to its continuation; and
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that Club 20 supports increasing public awareness of the transportation funding system in areas, including:
- The current and future transportation system needs, and
- The current transportation funding shortfalls and future anticipated shortfalls, and
- The statewide transportation system planning process and the public’s role in that process, and
- The costs that must be covered by state transportation funds for administration, environmental analyses (EA/EIS), road construction, etc., and
- Their individual contribution to transportation funding and the result of that contribution.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that in regard to Public Education Club 20:
- Urges CDOT, the private sector, transportation advocacy groups and the federal government to implement a coordinated education effort to educate the citizens of Colorado and the nation on the deteriorating condition of their transportation infrastructure, and
- Will help to identify and build support for a long-term sustainable transportation funding solution.
III. ALLOCATION OF FUNDS:
WHEREAS the economy of the state of Colorado is interconnected, and the West Slope and Front Range cannot be separated economically; and
WHEREAS there have been several proposals for local and regional taxes to fund state and federal infrastructure projects in specific areas, which if approved, would create an uneven level of taxation in different parts of the state, thereby threatening future state-wide increases; and
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that regarding fund allocations; Club 20:
- Encourages mutually beneficial processes and projects that promote collaboration between CDOT, regional organizations, local governments, transit providers, other agencies and the private sector; and
- Supports an equitable distribution formula that guarantees Colorado, at least the highway funds, collected in this state; and
- Supports equitable distribution of federal highway funds among states, including the requirement that each state receive cents on every dollar of federal fuel tax collected in the state; and
- Supports the current resource allocation formula for Regional Priority Program (RPP) funds and opposes any effort to alter the current balanced formulas for the distribution of transportation funds; and
- Supports the continuation of the current budget firewall which requires that fuel tax monies, which are allocated from the states, be dedicated to highway purposes rather than reverting to the General Fund; and
- Strongly supports legislation to authorize spending a portion of any existing or future state general fund money and/or any surplus money to address the long-term capital transportation needs of Colorado, including local road systems, and maintaining local share backs and flexible funding and that such funding be spent in accordance with the determined planning priorities; and
- Supports a system of flexibility which would allow other revenues to be used for other transportation projects, including rail, transit, airports, trails, and other modes of transportation; and
- Supports a bi-partisan legislative solution that includes thorough debate of all potential statewide dedicated funding sources, and may or may not include a referred measure; and
IV. DIVERSIONS OF FUNDS AND OPPOSITIONS
WHEREAS efforts have sought to tie tax and fee expenditures to the “point of sale”, which requires such funds to be spent where they were collected; and
WHEREAS regionalizing the funding of our statewide transportation system would pose a serious threat to rural areas where a small percentage of taxes and fees are collected; and
WHEREAS proposals to divert highway tax funds for non-highway purposes is a threat to rural highway funding in Colorado.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that Club 20 opposes:
- The concept of “point of sale” expenditure of taxes and fees for the statewide transportation system.
- All proposals to create new separate local taxes (RTAs) to fund state and federal highways and urges the General Assembly and all local governments to resist that temptation and continue the statewide funded system under which all Coloradans have an interest in all Colorado roads.
- Any diversion of highway tax funds at both federal and state levels to non-transportation uses.
- Any consumption of an increasingly larger portion of the Highway Users Tax Fund and believes that any transportation-related off-the-top expenditures (such as funding State Highway Patrol) should be maintained at a fixed percentage of overall highway funding and increase or decrease in accordance with fluctuations in the fund.
Incorporates the Following Resolutions:
- TR-01-4: Transportation Resource Allocation Formula
- TR-15-2: TABOR Refund for Transportation
- TR-11-1: Reauthorization of the Federal Fuel Tax for Transportation Funding in Colorado, Support for
- TR-91-3: Fuel Taxes, Point of Sale
- TR-96-2: Public Education on Transportation Funding System- Deleted in 2021
- TR-20-1: Equitable Fund Collection from Electric Vehicles
- *TR-20-2: Transportation Funding
- TR-93-2: Highway Tax Funds, Oppose Diversion of
- TR-05-4: Colorado Transportation Guiding Principles
Adopted 9/9/2022
*For reference: TR-20-2, Transportation Funding, incorporated the following resolutions:
- TR-96-4: Regional Local Gas Tax
- TR-06-1: State Transportation Funding
- TR-08-2: Transportation Finance and Implementation Panel Report, Support for
- TR-12-2: Future Transportation Funding
- TR-15-1: Bonding for transportation Infrastructure Improvements
- TR-15-3: Raise Gas Tax, Support of
- TR-16-1: Raising Sales Tax to Aid in Transportation Funding, Support For