Being frugal
Toolbox
Published: December 1, 2008
The state needs to look for creative solutions to a financial mess that is, in fairness, largely not of its own making.
While fiscal conservatives make a great deal of hay out of the state's high-tax reputation, the Legislature and administration have also shown enough discipline that we enjoy the highest possible bond rating. A lot of good that does us, with no money to be borrowed right now, but it shows Vermont is capable of sound, commonsense thinking - and yes, before the online wags jump on that statement, that does include Montpelier.
So it's reasonable to assume that, perhaps with a gentle nudge, they'll act on a pilot program for saving transportation funding under their noses.
When Manchester went looking for state aid to bury transmission lines as part of turning "malfunction junction" into a roundabout, the town made a deal: In exchange for state road money, the town plow trucks would service a stretch of state highway. It's not like it's a lot of extra work, as the town trucks needed to drive on the state roads to do their own jobs, but it kept the state crews from having to maintain the road.
If it works for one stretch of state highway in one town, why not expand it statewide? Let towns service highways where it's practical and in return let the towns keep some portion of the tax monies they send to Montpelier to instead pay for municipal services ... like plowing.
No union jobs need be lost - a sticking point on many potential state cuts, as the Agency of Transportation can simply divert its road crews' hours to working on the pressing infrastructure issues it has identified as critical.
As a percentage of the transportation budget, the savings are likely to be small, but if you add up all the highways in the state that local plow trucks drive over to do their work, it's worth looking at.
And as the state police have the power to call for plowing when they feel safety is potentially at issue, there's even a built-in quality control monitor already in place.
It's the sort of frugal use of resources for which Yankees are famous, and which help us keep our credit rating when those about us are losing theirs. Given that the option seems to be laying off state workers so they can collect unemployment, it's at least worth a look.
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