It’s time the people of Marion County wake up and realize no knight in shining armor is coming to rescue them, or their cars for that matter.
As someone who has had the front end of their new car damaged pretty significantly because of a massive pothole in the middle of a road, I know just how badly we need better roads here in Marion County. There are too many to count that are in atrocious shape and damage far too many cars.
They pop our tires, rip apart our undercarriages and make it a nightmare to drive on. There was even one road, which thankfully has since been repaved, that I had memorized precisely when and where to swerve to avoid the abundant potholes to the point I believe I could have driven down that road without hitting a pothole with my eyes closed.
But the simple truth of the matter is there will never be enough money coming from state or federal funds to improve the infrastructure of the county in any dramatic way. And the county doesn’t have the money to do it either.
Although it is a good ways away still since the Legislature hasn’t taken it up yet, Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann proposed a plan while running for office last year that would allow counties to implement a 2-cent to 6-cent gas tax that would be used strictly for local roads and bridges. Last week the Board of Supervisors discussed the idea with State Rep. Ken Morgan, R-Morgantown, and Marion County residents should be jumping for joy that there may actually be a plan in place to fix the roads.
Yet when posed the question, “Would you support a local gas tax in Marion County that would go toward road and bridge repairs here?” 70% of the people voted “no” in the weekly poll conducted by The Columbian-Progress. Another 5% said they were unsure while just 25% were in favor of a gas tax. Mississippi’s gas tax is already one of the lowest in the nation and hasn’t been increased in 33 years despite the cost of everything else in the world inflating tenfold over that same timeframe.
One would think rational people would realize that the only way all of the roads are going to be truly fixed, rather than small repairs made here and there, is to pay for it ourselves. The residents have driven these roads for decades and should know by now there is no leprechaun coming with a bucket full of gold to pay for fixing the roads.
A local gas tax is the most fair and reasonable solution considering the residents, along with the people who drive through the county and fill their tanks up at our gas stations, are the ones who use the roads. And at the end of the day, we’re not talking about a whole lot of money here.
The average gas tank contains roughly 14 gallons. Let’s say the board decides to split the proposal down the middle and give the people the option to vote on a 4-cent gas tax.
It would only cost the average driver 56 cents when they fill up. A full tank of gas lasts most people a week, maybe a day or two less. With the premise that you go through five tanks of gas a month, which is a high estimate, we’re only talking about $2.80 per month or $33.60 a year.
Per person, that’s nothing. When you add all of the money together, though, it would give the county plenty of enough money to repave roads. Plus people driving through who don’t otherwise pay taxes in Marion County would bear part of the cost.
Marion County residents already talked the board out of a 4.4-mill tax raise last year, which is understandable, but at some point the people have to step up together for the roads to get fixed.
Nobody else is going to come around to do it for us.
Joshua Campbell is sports editor of The Columbian-Progress. Reach him via email at joshuacampbell@columbianprogress.com or call (601) 736-2611.
