ODOT Shortfall
From whiotv.com
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The administration of Gov. Ted Strickland said Tuesday the state faces a $3.5 billion shortfall in funding for proposed new highway projects previously approved for construction.
In its 2008-2009 Business Plan, the Ohio Department of Transportation said the shortfall was prompting by rising construction costs.The combined rate of construction cost increases from 2004 to 2007 was 40.7 percent.The report stated costs went up due to “unprecedented rising costs of oil, increased demand for steel and raw materials in the global economy and the lingering effects of hurricanes Katrina and Rita.”Ohio Department of Transportation spokesman Scott Varner said the administration is not calling for an increase in the gas tax, the main source of revenue for the department.
However they are spending money on the following from wtov9.com
The sign welcoming drivers into Virginia has an image of the state bird and the state flower, but it does not have the name of the current governor, and therefore never has to be updated.
Both Ohio and West Virginia welcome signs have been recently updated with the new governor’s name or a new state slogan.Pete Sepp of the Washington-based National Taxpayers’ Union doesn’t understand why states would spend money to do that.”Common sense suggests that you’re not going to see the name or even remember then name of the governor welcoming you as you go by the sign at 60 mph,” said Sepp.
The Ohio Department of Transportation maintains 34 large signs across the state.ODOT placed a placard with the names of Gov. Ted Strickland and Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher on those signs at a cost of $1,400.ODOT installed six new signs at a cost of $7,000 after Strickland’s inauguration.The total cost of the project: $8,400.
Virginia aside, I doubt there’s another state in the Union without the governor’s name on the highway welcome sign. Besides, the alternative would be to leave Taft’s name on there. The cost of wiping “Bob Taft, Governor” off our state welcome posts is a bargain at any price.
Why don’t they eliminate the b.s. prevailing wage requirements on these jobs? Prevailing wage does nothing but increase costs with no appreciable benefits.
No, I’m sure we’ll just continue to pander to the unions.