Two-County RMA to Seek Funding for Road Needs

FCS rma 4-7-08

Now that Benton and Washington counties have passed ordinances to form a regional mobility authority, the next step is to invite the cities of Northwest Arkansas to join.

Authorized by state legislation passed in 2005 and revised in 2007, the RMA represents a way for municipalities to work on pressing infrastructure needs through local funding mechanisms.

An estimate by the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department pegs the state’s total need over the next 10 years at $19 billion, with only $4 billion in funds available.

The two-county RMA here, if formed, would be the first in the state. The main priorities will be funding two stalled projects — the Bella Vista Bypass and the Northern Bypass — and pursuing plans for a possible “western beltway” that would provide a north-south alternative corridor to increasingly congested Interstate 540.

Through tolls, dedicated sales taxes or motor vehicle registration fee increases, the RMA has multiple options for raising funds for roads, but any revenue streams would have to be approved by voters.

In the current economic climate, pitching any new expense is an uphill battle. Residents of the big four cities in Northwest Arkansas have collectively passed more than $300 million in bond issues to fund street improvements in the last five years, mostly funded through sales tax hikes.

A proposed millage increase in Bentonville recently met defeat despite the city’s overwhelming need for new schools, and school board officials in Fayetteville are nervous about whatever proposal they send to voters on a new high school.

With more tax revenue staying in Benton County, city rivalries will no doubt become more pronounced and it’s no stretch to imagine the skepticism of a natural ‘no’ voter in Prairie Grove about a tax hike to fund an airport access road.

“When it comes to taxing issues, if the public sees the benefit of the commitment, they’ll move forward with it,” said Northwest Arkansas Regional Planning Commission executive director Jeff Hawkins. “But it’s absolutely going to be a challenge. Money is tight.”

Right-of-way acquisition is nearly complete for the 13-mile stretch of the Bella Vista Bypass on Arkansas’ side of the border, but the project took a hit last summer when a second study on potential toll revenue found a $139 million shortfall in the project’s $225 million price tag.

The Northern Bypass, still little more than a concept after 12 years, is to eventually reroute U.S. Highway 412 around Springdale to alleviate the maddening city traffic. Only $62 million is available, with $300 million unfunded, and ROW acquisition will gobble up all of that sum.

“It’s going to be the most expensive right-of-way acquisition the state has ever had,” Hawkins said.

Proposals to improve I-540 interchanges will be complicated, Hawkins said, by the implications of using local funds to fulfill federal obligations. Swapping current funding for deferred federal monies must be resolved for the reverse scenario of using those dollars on local street projects.

The federal trust fund for highways could be insolvent by 2009 when the current authorization expires, Hawkins said, which will also lead to hard questions about future budgets and increases in the gas tax by anywhere from 5 cents to 20 cents per gallon from its current level of 18 cents.