Broback's Blog

This just in. 

FEBRUARY 10, 2009 REVENUE COLLECTION REPORT General Fund-State (GFS) tax payments in the January 11, 2008 – February 10, 2009 collection period fell short of the November forecast. Receipts for the month were $62.6 million (5.3 percent) lower than expected. Revenue Act receipts were $53.0 million (4.7 percent) below the forecast, and non-Revenue Act payments were $9.7 million (18.1 percent) below the forecast. The cumulative shortfall since the November forecast is now $196.8 million (5.1 percent).  

Let’s think a bit about 520 and the Viaduct. While the word “gasoline” is nowhere in the pdf, the word “gas” is:

The sectors with the largest declines were furniture and home furnishings (-30.0%), motor vehicle dealers (-26.8 percent), gas stations and convenience stores (-19.9 percent), apparel and accessories (-18.6 percent) and building materials and garden supply (-17.9 percent).

(Emphasis mine.)

Are gasoline tax revenues down 19.9 percent? If so, it kind of takes a bite out of the highway mega-projects they have planned doesn’t it? Last time I checked, over $500 million of the new 520 bridge is paid for by state gas taxes. Does this mean the projection should be adjusted down by $100 million or so? Isn’t that a problem? Oh yeah, I forgot, they’re going to Toll! Tolls are the panacea that solves all…