Hungerbeeler Defends Road Efforts

Oct 27, 2003 | Headline News

The public?s perception of how the Missouri Department of Transportation is doing its job and spending taxpayer money was an underlying theme during a public meeting with MoDOT Director Henry Hungerbeeler Friday afternoon at the VFW Hall.

The meeting was part of a state- wide tour in which Hungerbeeler said he is spending half of his time talking with employees and half of his time talking with public. He?s not surprised by what he?s hearing, he said.

?People want better roads and want us to do a better job of taking care of existing roads before building new ones,? he said.

Hungerbeeler said he realizes that recently MoDOT has not done a great job of taking care of highways and bridges and admitted that while 10 years ago, the state?s roads were listed as among the 10 best in the country, they are now among the five worst. Even knowing that, he said, he doesn?t feel too bad because the department has spent every possible dollar on trying to building the projects that were listed in the 1992 plan, which helped sell the six-cent gas tax that year. Hungerbeeler said he did not think the 1992 plan was ?much of a plan? at all, but more of a vision of what rural counties were supposed to look like, but it was incomplete because it did not take into account taking care of what the state already has and did not address the interstate system or urban congestion.

?It was incomplete as a transportation plan for the state,? he said, adding that the money being taken in now has to be spent on maintenance rather than on new projects or those designed to expand existing roadways. It is important, he said, that we realize the investment already made in the state?s roadways.

?We have a $65 billion asset and we have allowed it to run down and are allowing it to run down,? he explained, while noting that the department has slowly been increasing the amount of money spent on maintaining the roadways.

While apologizing for the department?s past mistakes, Hungerbeeler said that the department?s funds were already committed when he became director, so if the changes he feels are necessary are to be implemented, it will take time.

?If we are to change our way of spending without breaking commitments, we have to go slowly,? he said, explaining that the department is in the fourth year of a five-year plan and has been doing an ?outstanding? job, with projects coming in within one-third of 1 percent of estimated cost, which he said is better than any other MoDOT in the country. This is important, he said, because in 1992, the MoDOT did not estimate the cost of the projects accurately.

?We won?t make the mistake of promising what we can?t deliver,?

he said. ?It has cost us the trust of the people of Missouri and for that I apologize. We have learned from those mistakes and we?re not going to make them again.?

Hungerbeeler said MoDOT is still being punished for the mistakes made in 1992 and said it?s not MoDOT who is being punished, but that ?we? are punishing ?ourselves? for not ?putting it in the past.?

Hungerbeeler listed several cost-saving measures designed to save money and said most of the money the department gets goes into roads rather than in administrative costs.

Hungerbeeler said he has also been hearing that the department needs to be more accountable to the public, which he said means something different to everyone. He said MoDOT has an annual report that tells where every dollar goes and he included information on the numerous agencies which have some oversight over the department. The idea that MoDOT is out of control is a myth, he said, because the agencies with oversight of the department do their jobs ?very, very well?.

Hungerbeeler then opened the meeting to the public, at which time a patron, Delbert Smith, brought up the subject of perception, saying perception may not be reality, but if left unchallenged is can be accepted as reality. If you challenge it, he said, the perception may change over time, at which time Hungerbeeler said he needs the help of the public to overcome the negative perception that Missourians have of MoDOT.

Trenton Mayor Gary Hall brought up the subject of Grundy County roads, pointing out the difference that can be seen and felt when one crosses the Livingston-Grundy county line on Highway 65. District Engineer Mike Bruemmer said he is aware of the difference in the roadways and said the department is dealing with the situation, with a target date of 2006 and plans to be sure that whatever is done is made to last for a long time. Projects are committed for three to five years in the future, he noted.

In response to the general feeling that north Missouri is ignored by MoDOT, it was pointed out that work has been done on Highway 6 west of Grundy County and the work on the Ninth Street Bridge.

Chuck Hudson, also a patron at the meeting, continued the discussion on Highway 6, indicating that several years ago the weight limits on Highway 6 were raised but nothing was done to ensure the roads could handle the extra traffic and weight. He suggested that the limits be lowered or the roads be improved.

Trenton City Administrator Kerry Sampson continued with the idea of ?perception? noting that the perception is that Highway 65 in Livingston County gets the attention while Grundy County does not. Sampson said that the new overlay on Highway 65 being placed on a road that was only constructed three years ago is not ?perception? it is reality. Bruemmer responded by saying that it is not a complete overlay, but was a preventive maintenance step designed to save money in the long run on repairs.

Sampson again said that the ?perception? is that Grundy County residents are not getting their fair share.

Hungerbeeler said that everyone in the state has the perception they?re not getting their fair share, what they really mean is that they?re not getting enough. Sampson said that the ?92 plan did have something for everyone and what is needed is a vision He then asked how do ?we? get into that vision to which Hungerbeeler responded by asking ?How do we get their resources to build that vision??

City Councilman Gary Hurst, looking at a map which showed the percentage of tax money that actually goes to roads, commented that perhaps the problem is not having the lowest tax, but that more of the tax money is not going to roads. The handout to which Hurst was referring indicated that MoDOT receives less than one-half of the six-cent fuel tax. In fact, MoDOT receives 38 percent (2.3 cents), while cities and counties receive 30 percent (1.9 cents) and other agencies receive 32 percent (1.8 cents).

Hungerbeeler pointed out that in some states, some general revenue funds are earmarked for roads, with just the opposite true in Missouri. In addition, he noted that in Kansas, 12 percent of the state sales tax issued to building roads. Missouri receives no sales tax money.

Tolls are another way other states raise money, Hungerbeeler explained, saying that if MoDOT is given the authority to toll, it would be implemented on I-70, which he characterized as the state?s most important road and is in desperate need of being rebuilt and expanded. A toll, he said, would pay for one-half of the total cost of that project. His plan would not have a toll booth at every interchange, but would locate them at either end of the state and at two or three other places along the interstate. That way, he said, most Missourians would not be paying the toll and instead, the tolls would be paid by those who are just traveling through the state.

In answering the question ?How much money do we need?? Hungerbeeler said it would take another $1 billion per year to do what people are saying they want and even then, the funding would be below average.

Randy Railsback, executive director of the Green Hills Regional Planning Commission, went back to the subject of ?perception,? saying that the problem is that the people who made mistakes at MoDOT in 1992 (whom Hungerbeeler said are no longer with the department) may not be there any more, but the ?system? remains intact. Railsback said that if people are going to spend more money for roads, they want to feel they have some control and some input in how it is spent. Railsback said people need to be sure that if they invest in the system, they will have input.

At this point, Third District State Rep. Jim Whorton, a Trenton Democrat, said he feels there needs to be a change in the way the Missouri Highway and Transportation Commission is set up, noting that rather than having six commissioners, there needs to be one from every highway district, bringing the total to 10. There was much debate on this issue, with Hungerbeeler saying he feels that if commissioners are taken from each district, they will feel loyal to that district, rather than to the state as a whole.

?When you do that you don?t end up with a state highway system, you end up with a lot of projects,? he said, to which Whorton responded that he feels it would give people a feeling of ownership.

The issue of communication was also discussed at length, with those at the meeting encouraging Hungerbeeler and his staff to communicate more through local media at which time the ?perception? idea again was discussed, as was the need for leadership in getting the perception changed.

Hungerbeeler then gave his ideas for raising additional funds for roadways, which include increasing the amount of funds received through the fuel tax, increasing the amount of highway user fees that goes to MoDOT, establishing toll roads and increasing federal funding of highways. Whorton suggested that the legislature take a look at the Hancock Amendment, which restricts the amount of money that can be collected. Several other ideas were suggested including taxing anything that is sold at a business that sells gasoline, taxing auto parts, rental cards, fast food, hotels, etc. Most of these ideas, it was noted, would hit out-of-state travelers harder than Missouri residents.

As the two-hour meeting closed, Bruemmer took one last opportunity to address Grundy County local concerns, noting that the county does not get treated much differently than other counties in his 14-county district. He also put the funding issue in perspective by pointing out that each licensed driver in Missouri spends about $190 a year in user fees, which is less than the cost of one stop sign on a breakaway post.

Approximately 25 persons attended Friday?s meeting, which was a higher number than many of the meetings held in urban areas in the past two weeks.