Senate committee OKs 10-cent gas tax hike

SALT LAKE CITY — Utahns would pay an extra 10 cents a gallon at the gas pump to fund roads under a bill approved Thursday by a Senate committee, raising the tax on motor fuel to 34.5 cents.

But the sponsor of SB160, Sen. Kevin Van Tassell, R-Vernal, told the Senate Transportation, Public Utilities and Technology Committee that there may be changes to the bill.

The bill does not include a provision to index the gas tax to inflation. Van Tassell said it would take an increase of nearly 12 cents a gallon to restore the lost buying power since the last time the tax was raised, 1997.

"It’s never a popular way of raising money," Van Tassell said, but he called the bill a straightforward adjustment of a user fee Utahns who drive are already used to paying.

His constituents, he said, have told him they understand the need for an increase in the gas tax and asked that lawmakers "just be up front and tell us what you want to do."

House Republican leaders have called for changing the gas tax to a type of sales tax, setting a rate that wouldn't raise more revenue until the currently near-record low prices at the pump go up.

But Van Tassell said he's hearing from constituents they don't want lawmakers to "say you’re not raising the tax and we turn around and we’re paying more at the pump."

There was no opposition to the bill, which would raise more than $130 million annually, from committee members or any of the business and transportation organizations that offered testimony.

Abby Albrecht, of the Utah Transportation Coalition, told the committee the cost to drivers would be an average of $48 a year, the price of three pizzas. Albrecht said the bill is "a brave effort," but would be better with some type of automatic rate adjustments.

The Utah Taxpayers Association backed the bill, but said cuts should be made elsewhere in the budget to offset the new revenue. Research analyst Kelsey White said the association was grateful for its "straightforward and transparent nature."

White said the gas tax is no longer an effective user fee because of more efficient vehicles and alternative fuels and called for any rate changes to be tied to measuring vehicle miles traveled.

Senate Minority Whip Karen Mayne, D-West Valley City, disagreed with her assessment.

"If this isn't a user fee, I don't what is. If you drive a lot, you pay more," Mayne said. "We’re going to have to pay more money. I just think this is fair."

She said her constituents have told her they prefer paying more at the pump to other alternatives, including toll roads.

Van Tassell said many Utahns have concerns about the "big government" monitoring that would be needed to charge drivers according to how may miles they travel that would need to be addressed.

He said his bill would help state and local governments maintain roads that are deteriorating in some places to the point where they will need costly replacements if more money isn't found.

The bill, which was amended by the committee to delay spending on bridge repair until 2017, now goes to the full Senate.

House Speaker Greg Hughes, R-Draper, told reporters a bill creating what he called a "value added" tax on gas should be drafted soon. He said the problem with the current gas tax is lawmakers have to find the "political will" to raise it.

The speaker said combing the two types of taxes has some trade-offs, but could be considered this session.

Gov. Gary Herbert did not include a gas tax increase in his proposed budget, but said Thursday it's "very appropriate" for the state to reclaim the lost buying power of the gas tax through an increase.

The governor did not express a preference for how the tax should be raised.

"Maybe there's a combination of both of them that will have to come to pass to get it past both bodies. But clearly we need to have an adjustment in how we fund transportation," he said. "I think this is the time to do it."

Related topics