February 24, 2005

Heavier loads, heavier costs

The current administration in Frankfort is relentless in its focus on economic development. Not that there's been much to show so far, but Gov. Ernie Fletcher has spent part of every day promising Kentucky is open for (and will be very, very good to) business.

That probably means House Bill 8 is in the fast lane for passage. It would allow sand, gravel, natural gas and some other trucks to tear up more public roads, more quickly. They would be allowed to carry loads as heavy as those on coal trucks.

That's only fair, says sponsor Rep. Howard Cornett, R-Whitesburg. If coal can do it, why not everybody else? And in terms of equity, narrowly construed, he has a point.

But in terms of fairness to taxpayers, he misses the point entirely. The public not only would have to dodge a lot more grossly overweight road hogs, but would have to pay another $25 million per year in road and bridge maintenance, plus $350 million to replace bridges. And that doesn't count the cost of fixing city and county roads that would be brutalized.

After that frightening initial calculation of cost to taxpayers got attention, a revised fiscal note suddenly appeared, saying the financial impact of HB 8 is "indeterminable." But that's OK. Kentucky is open for business, and, apparently, so is the taxpayers' pocket.