Wisconsin Goes Deeper in the Fiscal Hole to Fix Aging Roads

Steven Walters of Urban Milwaukee reports that Wisconsin’s Joint Finance Committee—comprised of both Republicans and Democrats—have voted to borrow an additional $350 million to fund highway maintenance and construction projects. Critics of the vote have called for a long range strategy for funding highway improvements, including raising the State’s gas tax and/or car registration fees.

As a result, major projects like widening I39/90 between Madison and Beloit will be delayed by only one year, instead of two.

But there’s a cost: 21-cents out of every $1 in Wisconsin gas taxes and vehicle registration fees will soon go for debt service payments on debt interest and principal.

In just 10 years, debt service on transportation projects has doubled – from 10.3 percent to 20.7 percent, according to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau (LFB).

Walters writes that State Senator Janis Ringhand has defended the borrowing as necessary to address what the US Department of Transportation has cited as "poor or mediocre conditions" for 71 percent of Wisconsin’s roads.