$8 billion Missouri transportation funding plan has $800 million for cities & counties: How should it be spent?

The proposed new 1 cent sales tax for Missouri transportation will bring in $800 million per year--helping save MoDOT from a serious funding shortfall that will, by the year 2017, put the agency $200 million annually below the minimum amount needed just to maintain the agency's 32,000+ miles of roads and highways. 

A complete street in a city or town.  Building Complete Streets should be one of
A complete street in a city or town. Building Complete Streets should be one of the top uses of the new $8 billion Missouri transportation funding source.

But the proposal does more: It brings in about $720 million per year for MoDOT, but it also brings in $80 million per year to Missouri cities and counties.

The new funding source will, for the first time ever, allow spending of state transportation dollars on biking, walking, and transit--as well as ports, airports, railroads, roads, and highways.

This is true for the $720 million annually that MoDOT will receive.  But it is also true for the $80 million annually that cities and counties will receive.

What will your city and county spend their funding on?  Bike plans, pedestrian plans, trails plans, transit plans? Or more roads and streets?

This is NEW funding source for cities and counties and amounts to about $6.50 per citizen per year for counties and $10 per citizen per year for cities.

This is not a huge amount, by transportation standards: 5% of 1 cent is about the same as a citywide 1/20 cent sales tax.

But this is EXACTLY the size of sales tax that many communities have been looking for to provide regular, reliable, annual, guaranteed funding to implement a bicycle plan, a trails plan, a pedestrian plan, and so in.

And every penny of it could be spent on biking, walking, and trails--if the communities so choose.

For example, here are estimates of how much funding each county & city will received annually under this plan from the $80 million per year that they are apportioned:

  • St Louis - $5.2 million annually (it gets both city & county share)
  • Jackson County - $4.5 million annually
  • Kirksville - $170,000 annually
  • Springfield - $1.5 million annually
  • Jefferson County - $1.5 million annually
  • Boone County - $1 million annually 
    A rural Complete Street--and example of the type of roads counties should be bui
    A rural Complete Street--and example of the type of roads counties should be building with this new funding.

New money--that can address much needed transportation needs for biking, walking, trails, and transit

Now here is the thing--this is NEW money.  It should be looked at as a huge opportunity by cities and counties to address the major missing items from the transportation system in nearly every Missouri city and county, large or small: Complete connected sidewalk systems, trails system, bikeway systems, and transit systems.

Almost every Missouri city and county is already funding roads and streets at reasonable levels.  Cities already have taxes, funds, and plans in place for them.  

So--does it make sense to looke at most or all of  this new funding source to go to the traditionally underserved transportation modes of biking, walking, trails and public transit?

Imagine that happening in your community--it could be the huge, dedicated, new source of funding for biking and walking in every community in Missouri, that nearly every Missouri community has been looking for.

More information

We have created a spreadsheet that gives an estimate of how much each Missouri city and county might received annually from the proposed new funding source. Click here to download the spreadsheet.

Ensuring that any new transportation funding source in Missouri is spent wisely and includes funding for needed bicycle and pedestrian connectivity, safety, and facilities touches every one of the major points of MoBikeFed's Vision for Bicycling and Walking in Missouri: Improving safety, Building a world-class network, Encouraging more bicycling and walking, and Building a movement. Your membership and support of MoBikeFed helps us make our Vision a reality!

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