August/September 2014

PE REPORT
Missouri Voters Reject Transportation Tax

On August 5, Missouri voters rejected a ballot initiative seeking to implement a transportation sales tax projected to raise at least $540 million annually for 10 years. The Missouri Society of Professional Engineers backed the sales tax because it believes increased funding is necessary to maintain and improve the state’s transportation infrastructure.

Due to a declining transportation budget, the Missouri Department of Transportation has faced cuts to basic services such as replacing aging bridges and filling potholes as well as limited flexibility to invest in transit, rail, and other nonhighway transportation. Passage of the initiative, which would have amended the state constitution, would have raised funds for more than 800 highway and transportation projects through a three-quarters cent sales tax. One of the major projects involved widening Interstate Highway 70, which runs from Kansas City to St. Louis.

MDOT launched an outreach campaign to educate voters about the options and strategies for improving infrastructure, which would involve the following:

• Increasing regional involvement to include all transportation stakeholders when identifying and prioritizing projects;

• Securing reliable funding that is flexible and can be used to address each region’s transportation priorities;

• Evaluating the impact to all transportation modes during the development of an improvement;

• Expanding and improving transit, air, passenger rail, bicycle, and pedestrian options and connecting these travel options; and

• Providing accessibility to all users of the transportation system.

MSPE released a position statement in June outlining its support of the constitutional amendment to implement the sales tax. The society believes that it is critical to provide the state DOT and local governments with the ability to efficiently maintain and operate transportation systems. Addressing deficiencies in the system, the statement said, would also benefit the state’s economy. MSPE also emphasized that PEs are obligated to protect the public health, safety, and welfare, and maintaining safe transportation infrastructure is one way to carry out this duty.