Radical Avenue

While city planners around the country are busy creating more livable space in America’s downtowns, developers are headed in the other direction. They’re building massive office complexes out in the suburbs where the air is clean and the land is cheap. To accommodate the big spenders, county governments pave over farmland in order to build new roads with fun names like Mercantile Drive and Industrial Boulevard. These roads should all be called Taxpayer Street since we’re the ones paying for them. Sprawl, it’s the American Way.

Governments should sell road names to the highest bidder. If Acme Corporation wants to build a work center and expects to receive a new road in return, then the local government should say: “You want a new road? You pay for it. Then you can name it whatever you like.” Before long Acme employees will be taking Acme Boulevard to get to Acme headquarters every day.

I’m guessing Pepsico ® would pay a nice sum for the rights to name a road running past the headquarters of Coca Cola ®. For once taxpayers could benefit from marketplace dynamics. Competition, it’s also the American Way.

infrastructure, roads, street names, public financing, taxes, infrastructure repair

Businesses have long profited from dressing up ordinary commodities in fancy packaging. General Motors beat the competition by offering cars in a variety of colors and styles while Ford was still featuring basic black. American consumers need an enticement to open their wallets. They want to enjoy fulfilling their basic needs and take pride in following the latest trends.

Private organizations understand consumers and are busy plastering their industrial artwork everywhere in sight. We see the logo and we recognize the company. Pushy ducks, talking insects and smiling tigers speak for corporate America these days. Businesses obviously want to advertise in spots thousands of us pass by every morning on the way to work.

American drivers have grown intimately familiar with the stodgy, monochrome signposts that announce travel distances to towns up ahead on the road. Our taxes pay for these signs while farmers sell billboard space on the other side of the ditch. Selling ad space on mileage signs would help offset the cost of their purchase and maintenance. Drivers benefit from the travel information. Businesses benefit from the exposure. And taxpayers from across the state benefit as well. They no longer need to finance the upkeep of signs they never see.

If governments operated more like private entities, we would also sell naming rights to bridges and freeways. Why not call it the Poulon ® Weedwacker Bay Bridge if it costs less to get across?

roads, taxes, public financing, bridges, streets, infrastructure, road repair, bridge repair

Governments traditionally use taxes on income and property to fund public services. This creates a disincentive for people to earn a high salary or accumulate assets. So wealthy citizens hire accountants to shelter investments in foreign countries and the rest of us pay taxes at the retail price.

Americans understand the benefits of smooth roads, clean water and safe neighborhoods. They just want a better return on their public revenue investment. Our governments have a variety of assets at their disposal. They should use those assets to pursue innovative ways of raising money the way private companies do.

The recent catastrophic bridge collapse in Minnesota has highlighted the need for infrastructure repair in our country. Much of the discussion over how to pay for this revolves around tax increases. Minnesota should instead explore ways to use the bridge itself to raise money. How many people do you suppose have gotten stuck in traffic on that bridge over the years before it collapsed? Thousands of bored commuters, with nothing to do but stare at the railing, hmm…

taxes, public financing, income tax, property tax, public revenue, Minnesota, infrastructure, bridge collapse, infrastructure repair