1. CA’s gas taxes are the 4thhighest in the nation.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!According to the American Petroleum Institute, California’s 61-cent-per-gallon gas taxes are the 4th highest in the nation, behind only Pennsylvania, New York and Hawaii. This does not include the recent addition of extra cap-and-trade taxes resulting from bringing fossil fuels under California’s AB 32 law.
2. CA’s gas prices are the nation’s highest.
According to AAA, the current national average price for a gallon of ‘regular’ gasoline is $2.63. California’s current average price is $3.69 per gallon (as of 8/5/15).
3. CA’s gas tax & transportation fees yield $10.6 billion annually.
According to the State of California, Department of Transportation, Division of Budgets, 2014/2015 Fiscal Year estimates, the State brings in at least $10.6 billion in taxes and fees “dedicated to transportation purposes.”
4. Caltrans spends just 20% of that revenue on state road repair & new construction.
Last year, Caltrans spent $1.2 billion in state road maintenance & repair, and $850 million in new construction. Similar amounts are planned for the 2015/2016 CA State budget.
5. Caltrans wastes half a billion $$ annually on extra staffing.
The Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) report on the review of the Caltrans’ Capital Outlay Support Program found that the agency is overstaffed by 3,500 positions at a cost of $500 million per year.
6. CA’s roads rank near the bottom in every category, including:
- 46th in rural interstate pavement condition
- 49th in urban interstate pavement condition
- 46th in urban interstate congestion
7. Poor road conditions cost Californians $17 billion yearly in vehicle repairs.
34% of CA’s major roads are rated to be in “poor” condition. Driving on roads in need of repair costs California motorists $17 billion a year in extra vehicle repairs and operating costs – $702.88 per motorist.
Originally published by Fox and Hounds Daily
John Moorlach is a California State Senate, 37th District
The 7 reasons above show without a doubt that the Government of Taxifornia led by Governor Moonbeam have perpetuated and are operating the theft and mismanagement of billions of the taxpayers “earned” monies. This should only be considered as Criminal Intent by the Controlling Political Party, Mismanaging managers of all 200 plus California Depts. You can be sure if just those in the transportation departments are getting away with this that it is probably rampant throughout most depts. This kind of theft and mismanagement is contagious. If you want to see your future just read up on were Greece is right now to see where you are headed. Kind of like a train to nowhere..
We saw the theft and misappropriation that were going on at CalVets, and the Park Service.
It is a systemic problem created by our Progressive “betters”.
Re the Park Service. If you are talking about the $53.5M fiasco in 2012, there was no misappropriation. $33M was in the Off Highway Vehicle fund and had been reported to the Controller but not the Dept of Finance. The other $20.5M had been set aside for a “rainy day” fund in the flush years (as any competent business would) but when the lean years came, DPR couldn’t figure out how to legally get the money back into circulation. The legislature stepped in and insured that $10M was put toward urgent maintenance to keep parks scheduled to be closed open, $10M of matching funds for donations to parks specified by the donors and $500K for admin of the two programs. As it is, State Parks are critically understaffed, particularly in rangers (33% staffing in our county and others) and maintenance staff.
Sorry for the typo. Should be “ensured” instead of “insured”.
And, I get to spend that extra money for gas (over my cousins in just about any other state) to drive over crappy roads that beat up my vehicle, to get to the grocery store and pay $4/dz for eggs that were just $.99/dz last year (laid in “chicken condo’s” – a law which seems a serious violation of the Interstate Commerce Clause as applied).
We got to vote these fat cats out of office. Only vote for non incumbents and any incumbent that is running for a different office. We could not do much worse with all new people there that use a little common sense. Let’s to this the next election cycle. Get these bums out from top to bottom.
One reason why California roads are in disrepair.
Bad financial planning by those legislating from Sacramento who really didn’t have to work and sacrifice for anything their entire lives!
The Republican Party is “the rich man’s Party?” Baseless myths such as this is what keeps the Democrats in office. Jorge Ramos of Univision keeps the myth alive by being the spokesman for the non-English speaking Latinos to vote for “the big D.”
The poor condition of California roads was made very clear the last time I crossed the Colorado River at Needles on I-10.
On the Arizona side, the pavement for miles was fresh and solid. The median and sides were clean and well-marked. On the California side, the ride roughened considerably on the old pavement with a general shabbiness to the roadway.
So where did the other $8 billion of transportation taxes go?
Hold on folks the bottom line it taking your right to have private transportation, owned and stored by you, and saying goodbye.
Want to bet the Carbon gang, the alternative transportation thugs, and the thieves called “choice” will be back this coming year with the tax by miles?
While a great concept, under government control it will be twisted to include GPS tracking.and invasion of privacy. Here is a concept take “ALL” money taxed at the pump and registration fees and force the money to be spent on a) bringing all roads and streets upt to an index of 80 or better, and b) create new infrastructure to ensure freedom of travel by privately owned and operated vehicles.
This has been and continues to be a basic platform of this organization.
Caltrans has got to be the most inefficient in the world for those that drive the California roads.
Their dumb solution to any traffic problem is to install traffic lights. These are just the thing that create almost all of highway congestion.
Caltrans should be closed down and relieve all employees of the job that they are supposedly filling. ASAP!