The top Arkansas highway official told a special committee last week that state and local governments should be spending at least $300 million more each year to maintain the network of state, county, and city roads.
Dan Flowers, the director of the Highway and Transportation Department, told members of the Blue Ribbon Committee on Highway Finance that the state currently spends $400 million on road and bridge construction. Proper maintenance of the 16,400 miles of state highway would require at least an additional $200 million a year, Flowers said.
The 75 counties in the state spend a total of about $200 million a year on road and bridge projects. Counties are responsible for some 68,800 miles of road, many of which are paved only with gravel.
Flowers said the highway department needs another source for project funding because fuel tax revenue can’t keep up with the need. “We are not making any advances in our ability of improving our system,” he told the committee.
The highway finance committee established subcommittees to seek new funding sources and to determine if sales tax revenue that now flow into the general fund could be diverted to highway efforts.
The Bureau of Legislative Research said the sales tax on new cars generated $143.6 million in fiscal 2009, with the sales tax on used vehicles contributing another $90.7 million. Sales taxes on vehicle parts and service generated $186.3 million in the year.
