SCDOT says added 2 cents gas tax on July 1st will help raise an estimated $642 million for road paving
- Thread starter andersoncountycock
- Start date
We will now be able to pay 8 guys to stand around and watch 1 dude dig a hole instead of the customary 5.
In the last 10 years, there has been very little new paving. The sub roads are a patched mess along with some of the main ones. Some people have snatched up a lot of maintenance and tax money.
Where I live they put a band-aid on the potholes and 5 days later they come back and put another band-aid on. FN stupid ,repair the FN hole the right way the 1st time.
Does this mean they could cut the 30 year widening project on Hardscrabble Road to 20?
At least it's actual 'infrastructure', unlike what's being pitched right now on federal level
Drives me nuts, especially when I know how hard private business owners try to make things as efficient as possible, because it's our lifeblood, it's the difference between profit and loss.
Not to mention if I'm following a DOT truck or school district truck in the morning. We're rolling at 35 mph in a 55 boys. Get behind them in the afternoon, you can't keep up with them. Nobody cares, it's taxpayer's money they're spending, there's more where that came from.
There is enough sales tax in the state to pay for everything. The income tax , property tax , and car tax is totally unconstitutional. Sales tax is a ton of money for each town , city , and state.
Make noise about cutting income taxes but raise excise, VAT, property and gas taxes and no one says a thing. Frankly, I think they should look for ways to cut costs, trim the "fat" and tighten their belt and spend what they save to pave more roads.
The tax liability (I have not run the numbers so this is just my speculation) has shifted but it has not really gone down.
They recently tore down a school building near where I live and cleared the property to build a brand new school. The existing school could have been enlarged and modified, but they are so flush with cash they want to build a new monument (school).
/rant
The tax liability (I have not run the numbers so this is just my speculation) has shifted but it has not really gone down.
They recently tore down a school building near where I live and cleared the property to build a brand new school. The existing school could have been enlarged and modified, but they are so flush with cash they want to build a new monument (school).
/rant
Our roads are a disgrace. I would gladly pay an extra 2 cents per gallon. Last year it cost me $3k to replace tires and wheels damaged by a huge pothole near bridge construction
Did you turn it in to DOT?
The reason that I ask, my father was driving his Camaro back from a ballgame on Hwy 221 south of Chesnee a month or two ago, after dark. Boom! He and my mother didn't know what happened, but his tire light came on immediately. Huge pothole. Luckily there was a gas station right there that he pulled into, and there was another baseball family there that the same thing happened to minutes before. They call SCHP, who came out and wrote a report, and told them to turn it into DOT, because they weren't the first ones it had happened to right there. Both had AAA, so they sent rollbacks for both vehicles, which went straight to the dealers. Royally screwed the rims and tires on the side they hit them on. DOT reimbursed both of them, for rims, tires, and alignment.
If you hit a pothole that screws something up on your vehicle, call SCHP, get a report, and turn it in, and don't take no from DOT for an answer.
I met the contractor for that job at a bar one day before they started. He flat told me when I asked how long it would take “well they signed us up for a 2 year job, so that means we will take at least 3-4 to do it”. IOW, SCDOT pays by the hour/time it takes to do the job, not BY THE JOB. If they said “you get X amount to complete this”- the jobs would be done in half the tome instead of TWICE the time. SCDOT is statistically the worst DOT in the nation consistently from a safety standpoint l and quality of roads standpoint which is insane because rough winters are the hardest on roads and we do not get those here!
I’m pretty sure they are on year 4 at this point and there isn’t a single section with 4 lanes open or even fully finished.
I did turn it in and after 6 months of aggravation they paid. Of course it took a call from one of the state legislators to get them to finally send the check.
That's just it though; We're already paying more in taxes/gallon, plus higher/new Highway Dept fees (plus upping the sales tax cap on purchased vehicles). Our roads certainly aren't getting better. Where is that money going/ gone?
Until our government on any level proves to me that they can be good stewards of the tax dollars with which they are entrusted, I refuse to vote for any tax increase of any kind.
pepsicock
Well-Known Member
It's simple ,spend the money you raise on roads only.
The quality of the paving, or repaving, is the problem in SC. A 3 mile long bypass near my home which was originally built 12 years ago has already been repaved three times.
I’m not one for raising taxes but this is good news as long as the money goes where it’s supposed to. Priority should as follows: 1. Three lane I-26 from Columbia to Charleston 2. Three lane all of I-95 3. Connect I-95 to the Grand Strand
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Gladly?
Raising taxes and giving the state even MORE money to waste is not going to solve any problems. It still won't be enough. It will never be enough. They'll ask for more and more.
Yes gladly. For most cars it would be 36 cents or so. Once a week or so. If it went to road repaving only it would be worth it.
If they paid them by the mile vs an hour we’d get some work done.
Those are big “ifs”, considering we’re talking about politicians managing the money.
I’m with you; I’d be fine with it IF, the money went where it was supposed to. They’ve already had a couple (few?) $.02 increases (each July until it reaches the $.12 total increase). So far, that money out of your and my pockets hasn’t resulted in better roads.
Richland County penny tax was supposed to repair these raggity roads. Instead the money magically disappeared.
Unfortunately my friend i think everyone of us will be able to make that statement.
The question we asked what happened to all the road maintenance money from years past? It sure didn't go for road improvement. You're giving them more money when the improvements should have been made years ago.
King, I applaud you, you're the smartest person on this forum
If tax money was usually spent on what it was supposed to be spent on, we probably wouldn't be talking about a tax increase to pay for maintenance that should have already been budgeted. You can pretty well bank on the money not being spent on what it was supposed to be spent on. It's the nature of political leaders to want to point to new projects and say "look what I built!" It's much less exciting to say "look what I maintained!"
You can get that tax money back on your state tax return, but you Must keep all of your gas receipts as evidence you paid a specific amount of gas tax during the year. It’s the little gimmick that made legislators pass the law. Of course the knew nobody would collect all of their gas receipts for an entire year.
Serious question (because I’m on of those who isn’t collecting and saving all my gas receipts throughout the year); Do you know - can you still do that if you take the standard deduction in taxes? Do you have to itemize in order to take advantage of that?
Sold mine a few years ago after being run off of the road in TN (low speed, no injuries), but you are absolutely correct about the roads in SC, absolutely terrible for riding motorcycles. I've been to over 30 states on mine, we're the worst.
