The State Has Spent Nothing On Lexington County’s Pot Holes And Sagging Bridges.”

You may recall all the promises that were made if we only raised the gasoline tax.

So those wonderful people who brought us the blessings of the Base Load Review Act and other Statehouse nonsense did.

And they raised taxes on cats and other transportation related fees to give the Department of Transportation the billions needed to repair our pot-holed roads and sagging bridges.

And what has happened?

Nothing. That’s right, Nothing, at least in our county.

The state has yet to spend a dime on Lexington County roads after 14 months of higher gas taxes, reporter Rick Brundrett found when he started looking into what DOT has done with this money.

DOT is sitting on most of the hundreds of millions of dollars collected in higher gas taxes.

Less than $9 million, or 2.7%, of the $324.2 million collected from July 1, 2017, to July 31 this year was spent on “external” projects, according to the most recent DOT records. Brundrette found the latest online records show DOT has spent nothing in 20 of the state’s 46 counties, including larger counties such as Lexington.

DOT has no clear description of work performed in the other 26 counties in the first 13 months of the gas tax hike.

DOT’s website includes a list of “project commitments” but gives no specifics of work to be done under “Pavements” and “Rural Road Safety.”

Lawmakers promised the gas tax would fix local roads. But DOT’s project list includes only $34.3 million for upgrading I-20 in Lexington County.

The SC Policy Council has contended that the gas tax law was written to allow DOT to divert tax revenue to pay off debt.

Most of the nearly $8.8 million spent by DOT on “external” projects through July 31 was listed as “Payment to Road & Bridge Contractors.”

Other expenditures included the categories of “Engineering & Architectural Services” and “Printing, Binding, Advertising.”

Who tells the truth, DOT, our lawmakers or neither?

- JerryBellune@yahoo.com

The state has spent nothing on Lexington County’s pot holes and sagging bridges.