A draft bill presented by the Legislative Transportation Task Force calls for a yearly shift of about $180 million in general state funds to transportation, which traditionally is funded by gas tax and registration revenues.

This proposed diversion is nearly three times the amount that the state currently spends on highways and transit through the Centennial Highway Fund.

Lawmakers were reluctant to comment on the draft bill, saying they wanted to gather input from local officials, transportation planners and business entities. They will decide today whether to forward the proposal to the Legislative Transportation Interim Committee.

Some aspects of the funding bill were questionable to members of the Utah Trucking Association. Along with a shift of state funds, fees would be raised for vehicle-related services, including registration, license plates and the cost of oversize truck permits.

"We have some real transportation needs and I think they're trying to spread costs out over a broad area," said David Creer, executive director of the Trucking Association. "But you wonder about the benefits of some of these ticky-tacky fees." An increase in sales or property taxes would be a better idea, he said. That way transportation projects are funded by everyone - not just “a particular industry."

Other legislation forwarded by the task force included an idea to transfer control of more than half the state's roads to local government, authorization of toll roads and a $20 increase in vehicle registration fees for preservation of local roadway corridors.

The switch of state roads to local control is an idea that was rejected six years ago by the Legislature because of the difficulty in transferring huge amounts of funding to multiple local governments. The current proposal is much more extensive - involving nearly two-thirds of the roads now managed by the Utah Department of Transportation. Local government officials say they would welcome the chance to manage those roads, but funding would again be an issue.

"We have no capacity to take over state roads without a funding mechanism," said Sandy Mayor Tom Dolan, who was involved in past dialogues.

Officials with the Utah Department of Transportation said they would welcome a dialogue, but were skeptical about the proposal. "It's a huge responsibility," said John Njord, UDOT executive director.

nwarburton@sltrib.com