Just because you are raking in revenue now is no reason to spend like a drunken sailor.
Sure we have infrastructure projects going great guns in the oil producing areas of the State (to the envy of regions which already have 4-lane highways or interstates and a fraction of the truck traffic), and those investments needed to happen anyway and have been on the drawing board for decades, where they languished until the last few years.
That is an investment, and (actually) the cost of doing business.
Indirectly, the oil companies are paying via production taxes and through the pass-through costs of truck licensing and haulage permits, all of which end up factored into the cost of drilling a well eventually.
As populations increase in the region, demands on other infrastructure increase as well, and those needs must be met, or the increase in tax revenue will not be sustainable. One hand washes the other, in a good way.
Unfortunately, though, there are those agencies left on the sideline in all this who are seeking desperately to get a slice of the pie, to justify their presence, to expand even when not needed, and to grab a share of money that need not be spent.
The time to be ever vigilant is not so much when times are tight, but especially when there is plenty to go around. That is when aspects of government will grow far beyond their intended size and scope and liberty is especially threatened.
I remember a bumper sticker from Houston in the 80’s
” Lord if we have another oil boom I promise not to piss it away this time”
“Just because you are raking in revenue now is no reason to spend like a drunken sailor.”
Thank you, Sir!
You are exactly right. An increase of that nature in the national production wealth would create tax revenues that should be used to pay off debt, trim government and build savings. The ultimate goal should be to get government out of the way of private business so that private business can earn income from their endeavors.