Business View - November 2015 125
cement proposals.”
Bridging the Gap
After the winter thaw, potholes are a huge issue. People
don’t care if it’s a municipal road or the interstate… they
pay taxes, they want it fixed. Over the last 10 years, theme-
dia has become more involved. Tragedies like the Minne-
sota bridge collapse come to mind. Higher taxes are never
popular, but most people don’t realize that the Federal
gas tax hasn’t been raised since 1993. The Ohio state gas
tax hasn’t risen since 2003. That amounts to a number of
years dealing with declining, aging infrastructure. Bridges
and roadways don’t improve with age, neither do railways,
sewers, and water systems. CEAO officials go to the Legis-
lature several times a year to testify on the situation, then,
it’s up to legislators to prioritize where the funding will go.
Pausch knows firsthand, “Being in the Snow Belt, Ohio in-
frastructure takes a beating from brutal winters and salt
damage. That’s why we keep lobbying for more resources.
But it’s not all about raising taxes. Let’s talk about the fu-
ture with electric cars and hybrids. Somewhere out there
we need a champion on the national level for the VMT (Ve-
hicle Miles Traveled) tax. As it stands, fuel-efficient, elec-
tric cars aren’t being taxed at all, other than license fees.”
The overall problem for the CEAO is the sheer scope of
the Ohio landscape:
-2nd largest bridge inventory in the country
-4th largest interstate network
-5th highest traffic volume state in the country
-35th largest in geographic size
In the last two years, working through the Governor’s of-
fice, the CEAO has secured $130 million for a new Ohio
bridge partnership program funded by Federal dollars that
will totally fund 230 new county bridges in the state. The
program, one of the first of its kind in the nation, will re-
place some of Ohio’s worst bridges. Proof of the power of
advocacy.
“All travel starts and ends on a local road.” Safe journeys,
brought to you by the CEAO.
MANUFACTURING
