>Likely if you looked at your state/city/county budgets, they are spending more on road construction and maintenance than they are receiving in vehicle related taxes and fees.
I can't just look at the budget. That will tell me what they're telling the public they're spending on X. That will not tell me how much of the budget the people allocating the money expect to actually further X and how much they expect to get sapped by unnecessary overhead along the way. A non trivial amount of that is just monopoly money for the politically well connected. There are administrators and managers who are paid a salary to twiddle their thumbs because they know people. There are projects that exist for no reason other than to be a jobs program. You can't tell what's what from the outside. I have immediate family members in state government in MA so it's not like I'm talking out my ass. I get to hear complaints about this multiple times per week.
I can't just look at the budget. That will tell me what they're telling the public they're spending on X. That will not tell me how much of the budget the people allocating the money expect to actually further X and how much they expect to get sapped by unnecessary overhead along the way. A non trivial amount of that is just monopoly money for the politically well connected. There are administrators and managers who are paid a salary to twiddle their thumbs because they know people. There are projects that exist for no reason other than to be a jobs program. You can't tell what's what from the outside. I have immediate family members in state government in MA so it's not like I'm talking out my ass. I get to hear complaints about this multiple times per week.