The Observer | Close to Home | Transportation Funds Threatened

Posted Feb. 29, 2008

One Year Later, Transportation Funds Threatened

It's budget time and every governmental body in Virginia, including the General Assembly, is grabbing for cash as projections of shortfalls grow by the day.

But Fairfax County went over the edge this week when County Executive Anthony H. Griffin proposed taking about $30 million from the newly created transportation fund and using it to fund everyday transportation expenses. We're only one year away from the General Assembly's hard-fought battle over transportation funding—the first real acknowledgement in more than 20 years that the state's transportation infrastructure was in dire need of improvement—and we're already talking about redirecting the money.

This was a bad idea when it was thought up, and it's worse now that Mr. Griffin has actually put it on the table for debate. Not only is it a slap in the face of the businesses that agreed to support the tax for the eventual benefits it would bring in the form of better roads and transportation services, it is a slap in the face of every citizen of the county who was holding out hope that after years of debate their government leaders might actually have developed a plan to relieve some of the nation's worst traffic.

Mr. Griffin said in his presentation to the Board of Supervisors on Monday that he needs to find $152 million to meet the budget shortfall. But taking money out of the transportation improvement fund and using it for everyday transportation expenses is not going to be good for the county. The Board of Supervisors, which will hold public hearings and debate and make amendments before enacting the budget, should find another way to fund the county government.

It's a tough budget year, no doubt. But doing what Virginians have always done—delaying much-needed transportation improvements until another day, or year, or decade—is not good leadership. It's not useful. For the taxpayers and for the county, it's not fair.