In a colorful little Mexican restaurant called Casa de Sanchez in North Denver, Fareed Ali ate with some of his co-workers during a break from their job repairing home exteriors. They drive a lot and have been relishing recent low gas prices.
“I would say we cut back a good $600 to $1,000 a week, maybe,” Ali said.
They are not keen on handing that money to the government through a gas tax, Ali said.
It’s no secret that America’s roads are in trouble. Highways, interstates and bridges are crumbling, and there’s an estimated $90 billion annual shortfall to make the fixes.
So, many lawmakers are saying now is the time to raise state and federal gas taxes, which have been the main funding source for road infrastructure for decades.
Iowa and Wyoming have raised gas taxes in recent years, and other states are considering it. But, even that may not be the long-term solution to the widely deteriorating infrastructure.
“As a form of revenue that goes long term into the future, the gas tax is a dying tax,” said Amy Ford, communications director for the Colorado Department of Transportation.
Colorado’s state gas tax is a consistent 22 cents per gallon no matter the price of gas. It hasn’t been raised since 1993. The federal portion of the gas tax is 18.4 cents per gallon, which hasn’t been raised since the same year, and it supports the U.S. Department of Transportation Highway Trust Fund.
Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., is pushing legislation to increase the federal gas tax by 15 cents over the next three years, matching a proposal that was included in the 2011 Simpson-Bowles budget-reform proposal. The report said the Highway Trust Fund will go bankrupt this spring unless Congress replenishes it.
According to an Inside Energy analysis, if you account for inflation, CDOT is taking in 30 percent less money from gas taxes now than it did in 2000.
The trend is going downward, despite a statewide population increase of a million people since 2000. That’s more cars and trucks pounding out more miles on Colorado roads, shelling out less money in gas taxes.
Lone Tree Mayor Jim Gunning is part of MPACT 64, a group of leaders representing Colorado counties. They’ve been polling the public about raising the gas tax by 15 cents per gallon, as well as sustainable funding options.
They range from a slight increase in the state sales tax to an idea being studied by 11 Western states, in which the state would track drivers’ miles and charge a fee based on that figure. Colorado and Oregon are starting pilot projects this year.
The Oregon DOT is looking for volunteers for its pilot, saying that the drivers will monitor miles driven using everything from a GPS tracker to an odometer device to a daily diary.
“GPS will be the most hassle-free option,” said Michelle Godfrey, a road usage charge program spokeswoman, in a story by the Oregonian. “But it’s also the option that people tend to dislike the most.”
