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Minister of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure VROMI Patrice Gumbs announced Wednesday that St. Maarten’s Road Fund will officially launch on January 1, 2027, directing all motor vehicle tax revenues straight to repairing and maintaining the island’s roads.
The decision follows a positive response in January 2026 from the General Audit Chamber to the Ministry’s proposal to operationalize the Road Fund. At the press briefing, Gumbs explained that current practice — in which road tax revenues flow into the general government budget — has not delivered the necessary funding or predictability needed for sustained infrastructure investment.
The timing of the announcement comes against the backdrop of a September 2024 review by the General Audit Chamber, which found that despite strong revenues from motor vehicle tax, only a small fraction has been spent on infrastructure — contributing to a massive NAf 360 million (USD 201 million) backlog in road maintenance that was first estimated by VROMI engineers and auditors in 2024.
High revenues, low spending
Motor vehicle tax (MRB) in St. Maarten is collected annually from every motorist who uses public roads, regardless of mileage or frequency of use. In theory, the revenue — which exceeded NAf 10 million in both 2022 and 2023 — should go into a Road Fund dedicated to road construction, upgrade and ongoing maintenance.
The audit shows that this has not occurred in practice. Instead, the revenue has been absorbed into general government accounts, with only a portion later budgeted for infrastructure needs. For example, of the NAf 10.8 million collected in 2022, only NAf 2.06 million was spent on roads, drainage, public lighting and traffic management. In 2023, of the NAf 11 million collected, only NAf 2.76 million was executed.
This means that more than 70 percent of motor vehicle tax revenues in those years did not go directly to road infrastructure — a disconnect that the upcoming Road Fund is intended to address.
The maintenance backlog
Perhaps the most striking highlight of the 2024 audit is the government’s own estimate that NAf 360 million is needed to bring St. Maarten’s roads into a good state of repair — a figure that reflects years of deferred maintenance and under‑investment.
The backlog estimate, based on engineering assessments and internal ministry evaluations cited in the audit, covers the repairs and replacements needed across the island’s paved and unpaved road network. It includes crumbling surfaces, damaged drainage systems, worn traffic signage and other elements that are critical to safety and mobility.
According to the audit, this backlog puts the island’s road infrastructure at a critical crossroads: without sustained and predictable funding, road quality will continue to decline.
Underutilized budgets
The 2024 Audit Chamber review also highlighted chronic under‑spending of infrastructure budgets in the years examined. In 2022, only 39 percent of the budget allocated to roads and related categories was actually spent. Execution improved in 2023 but still reached just 67 percent.
Categories such as drainage, public lighting, and traffic management were particularly under‑utilized, with substantial portions of their budget lines left unspent at the end of the year. The review noted that these unused funds could have been applied to road repairs and other maintenance, helping to ease the growing strain on the network.
Based on actual spending relative to motor vehicle tax revenue, the audit calculated that in 2023 only NAf 73 of the NAf 275 paid by the average motorist went to tangible road infrastructure work.
Policy goals vs. execution
The 2024 audit further examined VROMI’s published policy goals for road and infrastructure improvements, originally set in 2022. Of ten goals identified — including Front Street repairs, enhanced drainage, traffic sign programmes and safer sidewalks — only three were actively pursued by 2024. The rest stalled due to funding shortages or lack of clear action plans.
The review highlighted an ongoing need for SMART‑aligned planning (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time‑bound) with clear financial backing — a gap the Road Fund is intended to help close by tying revenues more directly to outcomes.
A dedicated Road Fund
At Wednesday’s briefing, Minister Gumbs stressed that launching the Road Fund is a key step toward ensuring that motor vehicle tax revenues are used for their intended purpose. Once operational in 2027, all road tax revenues will be legally required to go into the fund, which may also draw from other sources such as specific fees and budget allocations.
The fund will support a strategic shift from reactive, annual budgeting toward long‑term maintenance planning, including setting quality standards and introducing regular road maintenance contracts.
While the Road Fund is widely seen as a solution to persistent under‑investment, the 2024 audit also warns that earmarked funds require strong governance and accountability safeguards to prevent inefficiencies and misuse.
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