It's questionable to me whether this is even a valid complaint. [...] that's no excuse to demand a higher proportion of funds be used for those roads.
It is a valid complaint. It's not about demanding that the funds be used for those roads; it's about the people who use roads being the ones who pay for them. That isn't currently the case.
Besides which, at best this is a problem of car use subsidizing other car use, not of non-car tax revenues being misspent to subsidize road building.
Since the gas tax is insufficient to meet Texas's road needs, cities and counties have been funding them from their general funds; that is, via property and sales taxes. They are only partially reimbursed by the state.
It is a valid complaint. It's not about demanding that the funds be used for those roads; it's about the people who use roads being the ones who pay for them. That isn't currently the case.
Besides which, at best this is a problem of car use subsidizing other car use, not of non-car tax revenues being misspent to subsidize road building.
Since the gas tax is insufficient to meet Texas's road needs, cities and counties have been funding them from their general funds; that is, via property and sales taxes. They are only partially reimbursed by the state.
http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/aust...