Transportation Funding Propositions Defeated
Commentary by Smart Commute Executive Director Karen Stuart
With the defeat of both transportation funding initiatives (Proposition 109 and Proposition 110) on Tuesday’s ballot, one wonders if the majority of Colorado voters are really opposed to increasing funding to support much needed highway and mobility projects in our state, or, did something else happen in this election?
Could some voters have had ballot fatigue from the excessive number of ballot questions, and just voted NO down the majority of the list? Within the Denver metro region, could RTD’s inability to complete the FasTracks commitment made to voters fourteen years ago, have affected the credibility of CDOT’s promise to deliver their list of construction, reconstruction, operational and safety improvements? Or, could those two competing funding measures have divided up the favorable vote supporting transportation investment? Of the combined votes to approve (over 1.3 million), we’ll likely not know how many people voted for both measures, or just for the one proposing the funding mechanism that particular voter liked best. The answer to this question might indicate a more positive trend toward voter recognition of the need to fund a backlog of $9 billion in projects across Colorado. I hope that’s the case. While the defeat is disappointing, I appreciate that a good number of voters were willing to fund transportation.
That $9 billion need still exists – and CDOT has identified an annual on-going shortfall of approximately $1 billion necessary to meet transportation needs around the state.
What happens next? There is a provision in statute, left over from SB1, directing the legislature to refer a ballot measure to the 2019 ballot asking for $2.3 billion in transportation bonds. According to CDOT’s Office of Policy and Government Relations, this language will be a starting point for ongoing conversations about how the state will fund roads, bridges and transit in the future. With voters rejecting ballot measures, the legislative conversation will center around implementing technology, raising fees, regional transportation efforts and possible direct transfers to pay as you go for projects statewide. CDOT will have to look at a much smaller project list that may have to be more of a band aid approach.
In the meantime, CDOT will continue to spend 85% of their annual budget for maintenance of existing roads, with very little left over to build projects that could improve capacity, safety and economic competitiveness.
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