A coalition including trucking interests is fighting a move in Tennessee to raid fuel taxes for non-highway uses.

According to the Memphis, Tenn., Commercial Appeal, the Tennessee Better Roads Coalition is spending $120,000 for radio ads and related public relations efforts. The ads emphasize the importance of good roads and keeping the Tennessee highway fund intact.
The ads are in response to the calls of politicians to divert Department of Transportation funds in the state’s general fund. The $1.4 billion DOT budget, funded with state fuel taxes and federal funds, is maintained separately from other state government operations, which have felt the axe of recent budget cutting.
Lt. Gov. John Wilder recently wrote to Knoxville Mayor Victor Ashe in response to his call for tapping the road funds. According to the newspaper, Wilder write, “I agree with you. Roads have got money running out their ears. Some of the engineering designs are not the most efficient, and some of the trucks they purchase are not the most efficient.”
Mike Shinn, DOT finance director, told the paper that the department’s budget isn’t as huge as it seems. More than half of the department’s budget comes from the federal government, which provides 80 percent funding of many projects subject to a 20 percent state match. Cutting the state funds needed for a federal match “would just be stupid,” he said.
The Tennessee Road Builders Assn., founded last month, includes road builders as well as the trucking industry and other interested parties. In the future, it may try to get public support for an increase in the state fuel tax, according to the paper.