ND Roads Win, ND Oil Wins, ND Piggy Bank Wins…Thanks Again Joe

How can North Dakota afford huge road projects when the price of oil used for asphalt is on the rise? Oh yea, The President recently gifted us $1 billion in Biden Bucks!

Would you forget if the government just deposited $1 billion in your bank account just a month ago?  Then why is the North Dakota Department of Transportation acting like we can't make payments on future road construction?

I know that every agency, department, and politician wants a piece of that pie. But they can't really touch it until the State Legislature gets back in session. That's a story you can read about here.  Legislators made sure no one could raid the piggy bank while they were away.

But this road construction/oil price situation is unique because it finds North Dakota winning across the board.  People in the know, may think I'm being overly simplistic, but it seems pretty straight forward.

When the Associated Press was looking into the story, they found that the rising price of oil was putting a squeeze on future road construction bids for the state of North Dakota. When the budget was proposed they were wrangling around with $50 oil prices and now that price is more like $65!  So that means the price of asphalt probably goes up 30% too.  But in North Dakota oil floats all boats- we get increased tax revenue when the price is higher and community tax bases benefit as well.

So, we spend more for oil which the patch appreciates.  We make more tax dollars when oil prices are high which everyone appreciates.  North Dakota can now make long term infrastructure plans confidently with a cool $1 billion in the bank.  But spread it around before Doug loses it betting on the horses.