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Currently, the South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) is responsible for maintaining 42,000 miles of roads in the state, the fourth largest state-maintained highway system in the country. Included in this high number are 30,000 miles of secondary roads, one of the largest state-maintained secondary road systems in the country.
Currently, South Carolina ranks last in the nation in per capita expenditures for roads, highways and bridges. Motor vehicle crashes cost the taxpayers of South Carolina more than $3 billion per year – or $704 per citizen – for emergency services, medical costs, property damage and lost market productivity.
South Carolinians spend an average of $227 per automobile per year in additional maintenance on their vehicles due to poorly maintained roads. South Carolina has less money available per mile than any other state in the nation.
Presently, South Carolina has the third highest highway fatality rate in the nation with 75 percent of those deaths occurring on primary or secondary roads. On average, three people lose their lives on the state’s roads each day.
Due to financial restraints, SCDOT discontinued for five years its secondary road resurfacing program on roads not eligible for federal funding. More than half of South Carolina’s secondary roads are rated to be in poor or mediocre condition. Key new road development also has been delayed, having a potential long-term impact on economic development and growth.
Proposals have been discussed in recent years for new and dedicated revenue sources, such as a gasoline user fee increase, to provide additional funding for road construction and road maintenance. Others have called for the General Assembly to re-divert all monies currently intended for roads back to road construction and maintenance.
In 2005, the SC General Assembly passed a highway funding bill that redirects approximately $68 million in fees from the General Fund into highway related accounts. After a full three-year phase-in period, the funds will be evenly split between road maintenance and the State Infrastructure Bank. While this funding is a positive first step, it should not be considered to have adequately covered the annual funding shortfall for highway infrastructure.
South Carolina relies on one of the lowest motor fuel fees in the nation, currently 16 cents per gallon. The user fee has not increased since 1987 and the revenue it generates annually has remained flat for about 20 years. And, while other states diversify their roads funding, South Carolina relies almost solely on the motor fuel user fee to fund roads.
The Board of Directors of the Spartanburg Area Chamber of Commerce calls on the South Carolina General Assembly to enact and the Governor to support the actions necessary to establish or increase the following user fees to create an additional dedicated funding stream for improvement and maintenance of South Carolina’s surface transportation system:
- Increase user fee on each gallon of gasoline sold by eight cents, increase user fee on diesel by five cents per gallon, and index these increased rates to the Consumer price index, with the Budget and Control Board given the power to reduce the adjustment, if necessary. This is estimated to generate
$206 million dollars.
- Increase automobile registration fee by $11, with additional funds going to the Highway Fund. This is estimated to generate
$15.8 million dollars.
- Increase the Drivers License Fee by $12.50, with the additional $12.50 going to the Highway Fund. This is estimated to generate
$15.18 million dollars.
- Establish a statewide Rental Car Fee of $6 per day, with $5 going to the Highway Fund and $1 going to the C-fund, to be distributed pro rata based upon the existing formula. This is estimated to generate
$17 million dollars.
- Create a Highway Safety Fee of $300 on new vehicles and $75 on used vehicles to be collected at the time of the sale. This is estimated to generate
$72 million dollars.
Further, the Board of Directors supports the allocation of General Fund dollars to the Highway Fund to diversify funding sources and to lessen the dependence on user fees and to promote a more balanced funding system. At a minimum, all highway user fees currently being diverted to the General Fund should be redirected to the SCDOT Highway Fund.
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