Feb 13
TRANSPORTATION–GAS TAX–”USER FEES”
2007 at 10:43 am | posted by Rep. Craig Frank 8 comments
Remember the phrase…you touch it, you pay for it!
Recently, I chaired a meeting of the House Revenue and Taxation Standing Committee (I’m the Vice-Chair). Under consideration was an interesting bill, HB158, sponsored by Rep. Wayne Harper. (Click HERE for Audio.) Wayne is one our state’s foremost legislative experts and advocates on reasonable tax policy.
HB158 partially addresses our need to look at future transportation funding mechanisms above what we are currently considering. With $16 Billion in transporation needs over the next 30 years…we need to seriously look at transportation funding. Generally speaking, people like roads, they just don’t like to pay for them–I’m no exception. Unfortunately, Utah has hit a sort of “critical mass” and the time has come to suck it up and pull out the wallet. Popular? NO. Necessary? YES!
As amended in committee, HB158 will provide for an additional “user fee” at the pump…a two cent increase in gas tax every other year for ten years–beginning in January of 2009. According to the Utah Taxpayers Association blog, this tax will provide $14 million a year for each penny increase. (Currently gas tax is 24.5 cents per gallon.) By formula, the first year’s (2009) revenue increase would be $28 million…Third year $28 million (total of $56 million)…Fifth year $28 million (total $84 million)…Seventh year $28 million (total of $112 million)…Ninth year $28 million (total of $140 million).
The other palletable portion of this tax policy is the implied “user fee” component. I’ve always appreciated the pay-as-you-go philosophy. Because this portion of the gas tax would specifically “earmark” for the Mountain View Corridor Project in Salt Lake County a dedicated revenue stream, commuters in Salt Lake would finance a portion of this massive north-south project on a regional level. This is GOOD.
This is just the tip of the iceberg. With billions of dollars needed for additional road and transit projects in Utah over the next few decades now is the time to look at tolling, impact fees, and licensing fees as potential transportation/transit financing mechanisms. Each of these “options” (tolling, impact, and licensing) is a form of “user fee.”
You touch it…you pay for it.
8 Responses to “TRANSPORTATION–GAS TAX–”USER FEES””
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February 13th, 2007 at 11:52 am
Amen, brother!
February 13th, 2007 at 12:56 pm
While it is a basic conservative principle that you pay for what you consume, our society also has a compassionate component that recognizes that cost of consumption differs for different classes of citizens. The pure use fee model is highly regressive for those that can least afford it. I am not opposed to the general use case model, but we should consider what can be done to mitigate the regressive nature of it.
February 13th, 2007 at 8:28 pm
I applaud increasing taxes on resources. Since the taxes on gas have not risen with inflation, this really is not a tax increase. If the taxes were a percent of the price of gas (like they are for most purchases) the tax would have increased automatically and would be double what it currently is.
I am not too keen on increasing government fees much beyond the cost of the service provided by the fee. For example, raising driver’s license fees is quite regressive.
February 13th, 2007 at 11:24 pm
The alternative to raising gas taxes is to increase sales taxes which is at least as regressive.
February 14th, 2007 at 9:01 am
The money needed for building the WTC freeway is being wasted on UTA or is not being laid at the door of major congestion contributors.
Kennecott Land’s development, the largest in America, will put a million trips on county roads and the WTC. A unique public private partnership involving them would bring that freeway into reality quickly. Let them build it to remediate for the effects of their development.
Kennecott Lands and its parent Rio Tinto have 4 billion tons of waste rock to use for the fill under the freeway.
Rio Tinto is one of the biggest earth movers in the world…just the ticket for building a freeway nearby..on the cheap.
TRAX extensions will cost over $1.1 billion in the western valley to build and subsidize over their working life. The best data from the Federal Transit Administration shows they will do very little. Here are the FTA ridership estimates for the TrAX extensions. These are one-way trips so divide by 2 for round trips. 2025 is the year.
MidJordan 4089 …2,050 people
West Valley 2050 …1,025 people
Airport about 1,300….650 people (no 5309 New Start analysis available)
The above is absurdly little for over $ $1.1 billion! About $1/4 million each…that’s fair, i guess
We are funding a new train transit entitlement administered by UTA.
To be frank, there is no real need for the airport TrAX. Buses there run nearly empty most of the day.
February 14th, 2007 at 9:16 am
There is another scam underneath the rail scam, it is a wasteful and expensive bus scam. The only bright spot for buses in the last 10 years has been from gaining back part of the ridership lost due to TrAX by giving away essentially free annual passes to another 100,000 college students.
About 200,000 people get highly discounted or free passes through UTA. that injcludes 150,000 college or university passes and nearly 50,000 governemtn, business, or other categories. Only at BYU are the passes reasonably paid for by the recipients, and those are still a great bargain.
This has helped pump TRAX ridership, too..along with some other gimmicks. It is kinda like steroids, but for light rail. Move over Mark McGuire, UTA is destined for the Hall of Shame, too.
February 14th, 2007 at 9:27 am
One last point; it shopuld have been my first point.
Don’t be anxious to raise another tax for transportation when there has not been good stewardship in undersxtanding the waste and inefficiency with billions flowing to UTA.
There has never been a study to verify what impaqct TrAX has on our freeeway capacity. Check with UDOT.
There has not been a study to understand the parameters of the TrAX “success”. UTA can’t be trusted to tell the whole story; they are too busy empire building.
UTA is programmed to receive over $9.5 billion tax dollars for the bus system. The long range plans at WFRC call for about the same $9.7 for road capacity improvements. But the average driver drives 15,000 miles a year, versus about 60 miles per capita traveled on UTA buses. Does that make sense?
There is tremendous waste and foolish inertia in the bus foundation beneath the rail “improvements” to transit.
February 15th, 2007 at 10:30 am
My only concern with the proposed gas tax increases is the automatic, every other year portion. Raise it now for the amount you need–leave it to future legislators to raise the tax again in future years, so it can be subject to debate that fits the times.