Make transportation fixes, don't add fees

The Daily Herald article on Sept. 19 outlining "5 ways to fix Illinois' transportation mess" was thoughtful. The state of Illinois must update and streamline the transportation infrastructure in order to grow the prosperity and employment of this region.

James LaBelle and his associates, however, need to be challenged.

First, the state does not have the ability to fund unlimited projects. I would like to see a "payback" analysis" on each of these projects prepared by an independent auditing firm that would examine both the projected savings and investment associated with each project.

Only those projects that provide an acceptable return on investment should survive and then proceed to the next step where funding sources are identified.

Second, growing prosperity is inconsistent with ever increasing taxes and fees. The article describes a doubling of the gasoline tax, additional tolls, a new congestion fee as well as additional freight fees. This sounds very much like the traditional government line, "Give me higher revenues or you will be permanently impacted by decreasing prosperity."

James LaBelle and his associates need to be challenged; how can the state of Illinois implement those projects that have hard financial paybacks without raising taxes and fees?

Eliminating most of the 47 members of the various transit agency boards would yield a small savings, but it would be a giant step forward for the state. Consolidation of township responsibilities into counties would yield another small savings. Eventually, the small savings would aggregate into a sizable savings that could be used to support these projects and the prosperity of this state.

I would like to see the Daily Herald print a series of follow up articles on this topic. We urgently need to improve the infrastructure of this state without all of the increases in taxes and user fees.

R. Klimek

Sugar Grove