Incredibly Bad Timing By Agency Demanding Higher Taxes
“The Arkansas Department of Transportation (ArDOT) will give $1 million to the Civil Engineering Research and Education Center that’s expected to be built at the Arkansas Research and Technology Park in south Fayetteville. The University of Arkansas announced the gift Tuesday (Jan. 15) will support the creation of a facility that will benefit students, researchers and companies across Arkansas.” – Talk Business & Politics[i]
Isn’t that nice of the Arkansas Department of Transportation? But just a few questions….
When did the Department of Transportation go into the business of funding buildings at colleges?- Who is in charge of overseeing college funding and determining how much state money is to be provided for college facilities? Is it the Arkansas legislature by appropriation of public funds or is it a bunch of bureaucrats at the state agency created for highways and roads?
- How is it the Department of Transportation can transfer $1 million of highway money to help fund a college building when at the same time the department is crying “the sky is falling” if the legislature doesn’t pass legislation for a big increase in taxes for highway programs?
Director Scott Bennett we realize that you want to help your alma mater and the engineering program from which you graduated …. but your agency has a lot of GALL!
For an agency that wants to rip more money out of taxpayer hands, its timing is INCREDIBLY BAD and its actions are INCREDIBLY ARROGANT.
[i] https://talkbusiness.net/2019/01/ardot-gives-1-million-to-ua-civil-engineering-facility/