John Wetzler: Get the state to pay back what it owes in road taxes
Re “Road repairs hit by dwindling gas taxes” (Front Page, April 15): Here we go again with transportation funding. We have one of the highest taxes in the country. The state collects the taxes and is supposed to give a portion to the county, but the county receives less and less because of mismanagement by the state which diverts transportation funds to the general fund.
Taxpayers have passed Propositions 41 and 1A and the state took the transportation funds which were to be paid back in a few years with interest – which was not done! With a stroke of a pen the governor eliminated the requirement to pay back the billions of transportation funds, depriving the counties of their funds. The roads are going to pot and the governor wants to spend billions on high-speed rail!
I suggest our legislators fight for the citizens of our counties to get state funds to repair our transportation infrastructure, not increase taxes on citizens who already pay the highest price per gallon for fuel in the country!
John Wetzler, Modesto
This story was originally published April 18, 2016 at 12:30 PM with the headline "John Wetzler: Get the state to pay back what it owes in road taxes."