JEFFERSON CITY � Opposition from Gov. Jay Nixon won�t alter the Missouri Department of Transportation�s plan to submit a project list for using $539 million annually from a sales tax on the Aug. 5 ballot, department leaders said yesterday.

The Highways and Transportation Commission held a discussion of the project list during its regular monthly meeting and heard reports from district engineers on the public reaction to the plan. The commission will vote on a project list July 9 that the department will be legally obligated to complete within 10 years if voters approve Amendment 7.

�It really doesn�t change what we have to do,� commission Chairman Stephen Miller said of Nixon�s opposition. �The legislature in a bipartisan bill has put this on the ballot and our job has been to provide professional leadership in identifying the projects and working with our local partners.�

Amendment 7 was submitted by lawmakers and would increase the state sales tax by 0.75 percent for 10 years. Nixon has said he opposes the measure because lawmakers also approved income tax cuts and sales tax exemptions that exceed expected new revenue. If Amendment 7 is approved, the sales tax rate in Columbia would increase to 8.725 percent.

Nixon also opposes the proposal because it would tax people who do not use roads to pay for major highway projects.

�It is really not our issue,� MoDOT Director David Nichols said of Nixon�s stance. �Our issue is the shorter timeline caused us to regroup and reschedule� to complete the project list. �We are very excited about the opportunity to get something approved.�

The biggest single project that would be financed with new revenue would be the reconstruction and widening of Interstate 70 from Wentzville to Independence. The new tax would pay for one-third of the project�s expected cost of $1.5 billion, Chief Engineer Ed Hassinger told the commission.

I-70 was designed in the 1950s to carry 12,000 to 18,000 vehicles daily and today is being used by 20,000 vehicles per day in rural areas and up 100,000 per day in urban areas. �It is long overdue we do something about I-70 for the next 50 years,� Hassinger said.

Boone County projects on the draft list include a new terminal at Columbia Regional Airport, a new interchange at Highway 63 and I-70, longer hours for Columbia�s public transit system and a new public transit service with six round-trips daily between Columbia and Jefferson City.

�We are identifying a lot of transit issues,� Central District Engineer David Silvester said.

Department leaders have warned for several years that MoDOT will not be able to afford big projects without a new source of funding. As they approved a budget for the year that begins Tuesday, commissioners and department officials said the warnings are becoming a reality.

Money from bonds and federal stimulus programs has been spent, Nichols said. A warning letter from the U.S. Department of Transportation that the federal Highway Trust Fund is almost depleted could force a freeze on new contracts, he said.

The federal fund matches Missouri spending at rates of up to $9 to $1. If Congress fixes the insolvency problem, new revenue from Amendment 7 will be vital to getting the share allocated to Missouri, Nichols said.

�We do not have enough state dollars to match federal funds if they fix their funding problems,� he said.

The $2.1 billion department budget for the coming year includes $1.5 billion for �program delivery,� a category that includes $841.7 million to pay to contractors and $285 million to pay debt. A large portion of the contractor payments are for projects started last year and finished after July 1.

Nichols warned that within a few years, if Amendment 7 doesn�t pass, the amount available annually for new contracts could drop as low as $325 million.

�Let�s hope at this time next year we are looking at a sizeably larger budget,� Miller said.