Lack of trust leads to knockout blow for Proposition B

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The voters have spoken, and the answer is a resounding "No!"|ret||ret||tab|

Proposition B was soundly defeated by the state's voters during the Aug. 6 election. Prop B, which would have increased Missouri's general sales tax by an additional one-half cent and add a 4 cent per gallon motor fuel tax for highways, roads, bridges and public transportation, failed by nearly a 3-to-1 ratio (674,724-to-255,547).|ret||ret||tab|

The tax would have generated annual revenues of approximately $483 million for the Missouri Department of Transportation.|ret||ret||tab|

Officials believe the lack of support came down to one issue trust.|ret||ret||tab|

"I think it was just too big a package for the kind of confidence that people have in MoDOT these days," said Republican Sen. Larry Rohrbach, who opposed the issue.|ret||ret||tab|

"It was never No' that there never should be tax increases, but that this was a whopper for an agency that had trouble performing," Rohrbach said.|ret||ret||tab|

Henry Hungerbeeler, director of the MoDOT, agreed that voter confidence in the agency he heads factored into the vote.|ret||ret||tab|

"I think the real issue, as far as MoDOT was concerned, was one of public trust. I don't feel as though we've completely regained the public trust and I think that that is undeserved," Hungerbeeler said. The agency employs nearly 6,000 people and operates on an almost $1 billion transportation slice of the state's roughly $19 billion annual pie.|ret||ret||tab|

Jim Kreider, a Prop B proponent and Democratic speaker of the Missouri House of Representatives, agreed it was a trust issue.|ret||ret||tab|

"They (voters) were not convinced that there was accountability and that ... the money was being spent properly and wisely," said Kreider. He also attributed voter reluctance to pass the proposition to a general economic malaise and a distaste for increased taxes. |ret||ret||tab|

Republican Rep. Brad Roark, who opposed Prop B, said it's time for Missouri's state government to examine where they're already spending money and enact a "performance-based budgeting" plan.|ret||ret||tab|

"With the overwhelming defeat that Prop B had ... it's going to be up to the budget process for us to go in and find money for those road projects and to improve our transportation system statewide," Roark said.|ret||ret||tab|

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Back to the beginning|ret||ret||tab|

The failure of the ballot issue leaves the state with deteriorating roads and bridges.|ret||ret||tab|

"We're worse than square one," said Mike Right, vice president of public affairs with AAA/Auto Club of Missouri in St. Louis. "Because the folks at the state legislature, I don't think, are going to be anxious to put anything back on the ballot anytime soon."|ret||ret||tab|

Springfield City Manager Tom Finnie said there's work that must be finished before looking ahead to new projects.|ret||ret||tab|

"I certainly would hope our priority would be on completing those projects that we're already committed to," Finnie said. "We certainly work hard with MoDOT to get that done. I think, obviously, new projects are pretty much out of the question right now."|ret||ret||tab|

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