Letter: Priorities important in designating tax usage
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From: Noel Taylor
Columbus
Received: Aug. 21
My first response to “City in bind over street fixes” (front page, Monday Aug. 20) is that a few extra dollars added to BMV license costs would be a good investment when we consider the ongoing wear and damage done to our vehicles by these deteriorated streets we drive on. On second thought, however, such increases would simply add to the underlying problem. Here’s why.
The city has chosen to be locked into using only fuel tax revenue returns for street repair, while the county is far more diverse in its funding and therefore far more successful in its road repair endeavors. There need not be this limiting factor for the city — it’s simply a matter of priorities. As evidenced by the behavior of our city government, Columbus has plenty of money to subsidize downtown restaurants, downtown apartments, downtown parking garages, and landmark bridges. We’ve also got plenty of money to illuminate said bridges at night, in spite of federal guidelines on light pollution due to its effects upon astronomy, not to mention ongoing vandalism. In my mind it’s more appropriate to fund those bridges and lights with grants designated for the visual arts, and to use general fund tax money to repair our infrastructures when fuel tax revenues are clearly inadequate.
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