What does an additional penny of gas tax buy in Michigan? (Center for Michigan)

Excerpt:

February 8, 2013 – For each penny of gas or diesel tax, Michigan gets about $45 million for transportation funding needs that include roads. Both fuel and sales tax increases are being offered up in Lansing as ways to find more money to repair Michigan roads. Which is better, and how it affects the public, is a mixed bag. Gov. Rick Snyder has called for shifting Michigan’s per-gallon gasoline and diesel tax to a percentage tax at the wholesale level, increasing registration fees and allowing local registration fees. A penny of Michigan sales tax brings in about $1.1 billion to $1.3 billion.

Link to Full Article: http://www.mlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2013/02/what_does_an_additional_penny.html

Allegheny Airport Authority approves $500 mln gas-drilling deal with Consol (Pittsburgh Tribune)

Excerpt:

February 8, 2013 – The Allegheny County Airport Authority on Friday approved a natural-gas drilling deal with Consol Energy that county officials say could generate about $500 million in revenue for the authority over the next two decades. The sum includes about $50 million in up-front payments, expected to be made in about a month when contracts are signed. The remaining $450 million would come from predicted royalties from up to 50 wells at Pittsburgh International Airport over the next 20 years.

Link to Full Article: http://triblive.com/news/adminpage/3450133-74/county-million-airport#axzz2KLd993mU

Audit report shows Delaware River Port Authority efficiency suffering from outdated technology (So. Jersey Times)

EXCERPT:

January 17, 2013 – The Delaware River Port Authority (A3 / 246348FP6) and PATCO administrative officers are lagging decades behind current technology, according to a third-party audit of the organization released late last week. The review, released Friday and discussed at the DRPA’s monthly meeting on Wednesday, also revealed that poor communication between officials has created a “negative perception” of new policies among employees, and that the authority’s budget controls fail to address efficiency or effectiveness. The auditors made more than 100 specific recommendations to the DRPA board.

Link to Full Article: http://www.nj.com/gloucester-county/index.ssf/2013/01/audit_report_delaware_river_po.html

Follow @Muniguy2012

 

They’d love this in Boston: Caltrans project drags on, still no lanes (CalWatchdog)

EXCERPT:

January 15, 2013 – For at least four to six months, the Capitol City Freeway (I-80) in Sacramento has been devoid of painted lanes. I took this photo last week, driving West on I-80, near P. Street, and the Hwy. 99, Hwy. 50, interchange. This is what this section of freeway has looked like for months. I was on the freeway again over the weekend, and it looked the same. While Caltrans has been resurfacing this section of I-80 at a snails’ pace, drivers have had to fend for themselves.  This resurfacing has taken months… probably six months at this point in time.

Link to Full Article: http://www.calwatchdog.com/2013/01/15/caltrans/photo-3/

Follow @Muniguy2012

 

Source: CalWatchdog

Emanuel announces Chicago Midway privatization advisory panel (Crain’s Chicago Business)

January 11, 2013 – Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced today the formation of a seven-member expert advisory panel charged with overseeing the privatization of Midway International Airport. The committee will help explore a potential public-private partnership at Midway International Airport, according to a City Hall statement. Learning from former Mayor Richard M. Daley’s 2008 bungled parking meter deal, which leased the city’s parking meters for 75 years and approximately $1.2 billion, Mr. Emanuel wants a shorter lease and more restrictions for the Midway deal, stipulations that may not appeal to investors.

Link to Full Article: http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20130111/NEWS10/130119948/emanuel-announces-midway-privatization-advisory-panel

Follow @Muniguy2012

Over 200 road, rail, and port projects in US part of border plan (El Paso Times)

January 11, 2013 – At least 200 projects are included in the draft border transportation master plan that officials said covers a binational region stretching from Presidio-Ojinaga to Santa Teresa-San Jeronimo. Included on the U.S. side of the plan are 48 road and interchange projects, three rail projects and 32 ports of entry projects. On the Mexican side of the border, the plan includes 80 road and interchange projects, seven rail projects and 30 ports of entry projects. Jolanda Prozzi, an expert with the Center for Transportation Research at the University of Texas in Austin, said the draft plan is the culmination of many organizations and agencies that have a stake in transportation matters as well as public input gleaned at previous meetings.

Link to Full Article: http://www.elpasotimes.com/news/ci_22352289/road-rail-port-projects-us-part-border-plan

Follow @Muniguy2012

 

L.A. City Council delays vote on $3B street repair bond measure (Daily News)

January 10, 2013 – Under pressure from complaints they were rushing a $3 billion street repair bond issue to the May 21 ballot, the Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday pushed off the proposal for a week until a plan on public outreach can be developed. Two key groups of neighborhood council leaders – the Los Angeles Alliance of Neighborhood Councils and the Neighborhood Councils Budget Advocates – said they want 60 days to examine the proposal, which would have the effect of keeping it off this year’s ballot. In a presentation to the City Council, Nazario Sauceda, director of the Bureau of Street Services, said the problem of street repair has been escalating over the years as the city neglected maintenance from the 1950s through the 1990s.

Link to Full Article: http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_22343047/l-city-council-delays-vote-3b-street-repair

Follow @Muniguy2012

 

California Highway Patrol seeks millions for Bay Bridge cameras (SF Chronicle)

January 9, 2013 – The splashy new east span of the Bay Bridge needs a state-of-the-art system of security cameras, the California Highway Patrol has told bridge officials – and toll payers would have to pay the $31 million cost. Results of the CHP’s security assessment of the new bridge, scheduled to open by Labor Day weekend, surprised members of a Bay Area Toll Authority (Aa3 / 072024MX7) committee, who had allotted $8 million, which they had expected to be sufficient. But on Wednesday they were presented with a request for an extra $23 million to buy and install a security system on the 2.2-mile east span and upgrade the existing cameras on the west span.

Link to Full Article: http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/CHP-seeks-millions-for-Bay-Bridge-cameras-4180921.php

Follow @Muniguy2012

Comment: I’m sure glad the Golden Gate Bridge has it’s own police force.  I feel safer already.

Port of Long Beach breaks ground on billion-dollar Gerald Desmond Bridge replacement (Daily News)

January 8, 2013 – Federal, state, city and port officials celebrated the groundbreaking Tuesday of a $1 billion project to replace the aging Gerald Desmond Bridge, considered the biggest bridge project in Southern California. Built in 1968, the Gerald Desmond Bridge links Terminal Island and the Long Beach (710) Freeway for the nation’s trade system, with nearly 15 percent of the nation’s waterborne cargo traveling on it. If the new bridge is renamed, it will likely be up to the state, which is contributing the most funding to the project with $500 million, Port of Long Beach (Aa2 / 542424RR9) officials said.

Link to Full Article: http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_22333647/ceremony-marks-start-work-gerald-desmond-bridge-replacement

Follow @Muniguy2012

 

Virginia Gov. McDonnell to unveil road funding plan that calls for at least $500 million annual spending (Washington Post)

January 8, 2013 – Gov. Robert F. McDonnell will unveil a plan Tuesday to pump at least $500 million a year into the state’s quickly draining transportation coffers. So far, the Republican governor has revealed where about half of that money would come from: the state’s general fund. He has said he wants to spend $48 million in general funds on transportation in 2014, ramping that up to $275 million a year by 2018. That part of the plan is sure to face opposition in the state Senate, which shot down a similar proposal last year, arguing that it would cheat schools and other programs that the fund bankrolls.

Link to Full Article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/va-politics/mcdonnell-to-unveil-road-funding-plan-that-calls-for-at-least-500m-annual-spending/2013/01/08/00e10430-598e-11e2-9fa9-5fbdc9530eb9_story.html

Follow @Muniguy2012