For whom the tolls swell

If our different levels of government function properly, replacing the Brent Spence Bridge will be the primary responsibility of the feds and the states of Ohio and Kentucky.

With that in mind, I have a lot of questions about the idea being pitched by Kentucky Senate President David Williams to allow local governments to form finance authorities to pay for big, expensive projects such as replacing the Spence -- whose $3 billion replacement price tag keeps mounting -- and possibly paying off the debt by charging tolls.

The idea seems well-intentioned. Officials have to do something to get the bridge replaced, and other prospects seem to get dimmer. And I don't have a problem with toll bridges, as long as tolls are reasonable, modern technology is used to avoid stopping at toll booths to pay and there is a free bridge alternative route.

But the idea implies that the bridge replacement is primarily a local problem. Replacing the Licking River Bridge between Covington and Newport fits my definition of that sort of problem.

That doesn't describe the Spence. While every commuter knows there's a local stake in the Spence, the bridge also is part of a major thoroughfare that's critical to commerce from the Canadian border to the Deep South. It matters for national security and disaster response, too.

Williams says the right things about not letting state and federal governments shirk responsibility to pay a fair share of bridge replacement costs. Still, you just know that every dollar in debt that local government will incur to pay for this is a dollar that Ohio, Kentucky and the feds won't contribute. And what happens if toll revenue to pay the bonds falls short? Local governments already are being crushed by pension costs and numerous other unfunded mandates. Will local taxpayers be subsidizing regional truckers and Michigan vacationers?

If I were a local government official, I'd make sure I read the fine print in this bill before offering support.

But maybe it must be done this way. The feds say they lack the capacity to pay for fundamental infrastructure improvements important to regional economic development and national security. Do you find that scary and depressing?

After decades of approving programs we can't afford, outright deceit and accounting mumbo-jumbo from the federal government, this is where we're at.