Idaho Panel Falls Short of Road-Funding Recommendations

A task force formed to address Idaho’s transportation funding shortfall has disbanded after 18 months of work without making any specific road-revenue-raising recommendations.

Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter, who created the panel, announced he will not seek any new fees or taxes next year despite a task force finding that Idaho needs an additional $543 million annually to support its road system.

The needs are “real and growing,” Otter said in a Nov. 23 statement issued within hours after the panel’s last meeting.

“But too many people remain jobless, under-employed or on the ragged edge financially to impose higher costs on them right now,” Otter said.

Otter’s announcement and the task force’s refusal to put specific dollar amounts on such options as higher fuel taxes and registration fees makes it unlikely legislators will address the transportation funding issue.