Vehicle fee can save you time, money

The ballot measure to increase Kootenai County vehicle registration fees is truly about one thing. That one thing is improving transportation for all citizens of Kootenai County. No matter what we want, more people will move to our area. In order for all of us to enjoy our best quality of life, we need an efficient transportation system in our area.

The proposed measure will increase vehicle license fees by $50 per user. These monies will be used to create a fund that will be used as matching monies for federal grants for projects that will improve Kootenai County's major transportation corridors.

With the very competitive national climate for Federal Highway funds, typically most regions are matching up to 43% of project costs, up from the minimum of 7% just a few short years ago, it is important to create a fund that can help land these Federal grants. Our state gas taxes help with federal project matches, but the amount returned to Kootenai County cannot begin to help with the magnitude of projects that we need to perform to address our traffic challenges.

Ada County has successfully used this measure provided by Idaho Code to raise the funds for Federal fund matches to address the huge growth issues in their region. This is not a new experiment, it is a tried-and-true process.

Lastly, questions have been raised regarding raising the gas tax to provide the funding. Past Gov. Otter tried multiple times to get the Legislature to agree to a gas hike increase to address the funding of Idaho transportation improvements. All of his efforts were not embraced or enacted into the budget or law by the Idaho State Legislature.

At the end of the day, a gallon of gas costs $2.25 today, our vehicles average 18 mpg, we drive an average of 12,000 miles a year, costing an estimated $1,500 per year and 300 hours of our time. Is it worth $50 more a year to save yourself 10 or 15 minutes in traffic a week, 8.6 to 13 hours a year at a cost to you of $3.85 to $5.81 per hour?

There is no better investment to save our time than this measure as our region continues to grow.

I will vote Yes.

John Young is president of Young Construction Group of Idaho. Inc., Coeur d'Alene.