NWA EDITORIAL: For Issue 1

If you're an Arkansas taxpayer who hasn't yet voted, here are two facts to consider on Issue 1: The outcome will affect the amount of money you pay on most purchases and it will affect the quality of highways, city streets and county roads across the state.

Few things on Tuesday's ballot have as direct an impact on the state's residents, businesses, economy and tourism as the condition of its extensive system of highways, streets and roads. And in Northwest Arkansas, most everyone knows the value of good highways because the lack of them in the region aren't far back in our memories.

Arkansans and visitors to the state already pay a half-cent sales tax for highways because voters eight years ago agreed to a 10-year plan to fund transportation projects. If voters reject Issue 1, that tax is scheduled to evaporate in a couple of years, leaving the state Department of Transportation without a crucial source of funding.

The statewide tax will provide about $205 million a year for highway needs and would send $44 million, respectively, annually to cities and counties for transportation projects. Perhaps just as important to realize is that rejecting the tax would see the existing funding dry up.

If you're one of the never-ever, not-in-a-million-years anti-tax crusaders, the way to vote is naturally an easy choice. But let's not pretend such a stance is free of consequences. We believe most Arkansans recognize how much they, their employers and the state's economy rely on functional city streets, county roads, bridges and state highways. Hardly anyone argues the state's transportation system doesn't need a more significant investment than is permitted by the diminishing return on fuel taxes.

We're among those who initially disliked the idea of converting the 10-year, half-cent tax into an ongoing tax that no longer requires putting the question before voters. But who are we kidding? Arkansas' transportation infrastructure will need this funding for more than 10 years and it's a little silly to believe decade-by-decade decision-making doesn't ultimately erode the state and local ability for long-term planning. And if there's anything in government that benefits from long-term planning, it's the transportation program.

Advocates say the investment can be made without raising taxes. Opponents argue the measure will indeed put a new tax into effect. Both statements are accurate, but largely academic. The reality is simple: Arkansans are already used to paying this half-cent sales tax because they've done it for nearly eight years. The "new" half-cent tax will simply supplant the old, sunsetting tax. For Arkansans, the impact on their wallets won't event feel like a speed bump. But rejecting the measure will undoubtedly, eventually, feel more like a very big pothole for everyone who travels the state's roads, streets and highways.

Any property owner knows the day it's purchased isn't the last expense. Properties require continued maintenance and, from time to time, improvements designed to make them safer. Paying for Arkansas' transportation system isn't an extravagance. It's a necessity.

We recommend Arkansas' voters support Issue 1 to ensure the state's highways, streets and roads can be viewed as an asset, not a detriment to the state's future.