Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1957-01-10
Gas Tax Boost Seen
Aid to Nearby Area
Proposed Levy
To Be Given on
Busis of Need
BY MARY LOU WERNER
Star STAFF Correspondent

H1CHMOND, Jan. lO,-Traftlca
clogged areas like Northern Vir-
ginia today were rated principal
benefactors of proposed one
cent increase in the State gaso-
line tax and higher automobile
registration fees.
All revenue from the added
levieS would be distributed &C.
cordlng to need and, as one
highway official put it, IF North
ern Virginia doesn't need the
money, no other area does"
The penny gas boost and in
creased registration fees aver
aging So per car annually are
major recommendations of
conSultant's report on highway
problems submitted to the Vir-
GINA Advisory Legislative Coun.
Gil yesterday.
1 After an all-day closed session,
the VALC made the report pub
lie without taking any action on
it. A public hearing was set for
March Is at the State Capitol.
Other Proposals
Other important proposals
contained in the voluminous re.
port are:
/. Exclude Federal aid inter.
state grants when computing
ALLEGATIONS to the secondary
roads system. At present, all
funds available for highway
construction are Jumped to-
gether before So per cent is ear.
marked for secondary roads.
Secondary roads are all roads
in the State system which are
not primary or interstate high
WayS)
2. Set up a separate inter-
state system fund consisting of
all Federal aid money for in
terstate work, plus State
matching funds, and distribute
it according to needs.
3. Acquire rights-o f-way for
new highways well in advance Of
construction.
I 4. Consider replacement of the
present court-appointed COM
missioner system in fixing land
values where property must be
condemned. (The report notes
that the commissioners tend to
save the property owner. Jury
trials in condemnation cases are
suggested
Less Convict Labor
5. Hold the use of convict labor
to a minimum since it apparent.
ly is uneconomical.
( s Increase the technical staff
OF the highway department. par
ticularly in district and county
Offices.
/ Money raised by the higher
gas tax and registration fees
would be set up in a new equali-
cation fund, which the consult
ants propose as an antidote for
inequities of the present alloca-
ton system.
Distribution of this new
equalization fund according to
need would represent a major
departure from long-standing
Virginia highway policy. Rigid
formula, bearing little relation
to traffic needs. traditionally had
determined how much money is
spent in different parts of the
State for highway improvement.
Instead of scrapping the old
formula system completely, how
ever, the consultants proposed
that income from existing levies
be spent without much change
except the proposed exclusion of
Federal interstate funds from
secondary ALLEGATION calcula-
tons. Only new income from the
additional one-cent gas tax and
highway registration fees would
be given out according to need.
Benefits Cited
I Thus, as the consultants en-
phasize. mo highway system or
subdivision would have its pres
ent ALLEGATION reduced, and those
receiving less than their pro-
portionate share of funds Gun
der the present method would
have their ALLEGATION increased"
With the addition of this So
called equalization fund financed
by the increased levies, the con-
sultants predict that all of Vir-
giania highway needs can be full
filled in % years. At the end Of
10 years, it is estimated roughly
70 per cent of the States roads
needs can be met.
/ Without the extra money and
proposed distribution method.
the consultant said Virginia
barely can manage to reduce an
existing backlog of road needs
by 40 per cent in the next %
years, or by 10 per cent in the
next Is years.
The total amount of construc-
ton needed in Virginia during
the l3-year period beginning
July / is calculated at S2.l77
billion. The present backlog is
estimated at S634.9 million. The
report takes into account the
additional money Virginia stands
to receive under the new Federal
interstate highway program,
which also is geared to a l3-year
period beginning July /.
Rirhnnnnd Dnirv Ache