Indexing the gas tax could help fund roads

Utah's per-gallon gasoline tax has not been raised since 1997, and the "user" argument — that drivers should pay for the roads they travel upon — has seriously come undone as hundreds of millions of dollars in sales tax have been pumped into state road projects.

Just trying to "keep us even," Rep. Wayne Harper, R-West Jordan, has introduced a bill in the Legislature that would tie the state's share of the gasoline tax — now 24.5 cents per gallon — to the general cost of living.

Harper says his measure would only raise an extra $5.5 million if the COLA went up by 6 percent in one year.

"But at least we would not be losing ground each year," he added.

The Deseret Morning News and KSL-TV recently asked Utahns through a Dan Jones & Associates poll if the gasoline tax should be raised, considering the billions of dollars needed for road work. But nearly 70 percent said no, they don't want the gas tax raised.

Harper understands that. That's one reason why the gas tax has not been raised in more than a decade, despite highway needs.

"If the COLA went up by 6 percent, the (state) gas tax would go up from 24.5 cents to 25 cents per gallon," a small increase, Harper said.

Under his bill, every two years the gas tax would automatically rise according to the past two years' cost of living increases for Utah. Legislators and the governor would not have to act.

The increase would not be tied to the retail price of gasoline, which could be quite substantial, but to the overall cost of living, which historically would be much less.

Last session, Harper sponsored a bill to lower the state gas tax to 15 cents per gallon and then charge sales tax on all gasoline purchases. The bill was eventually amended to increase the gas tax by 10 cents over a 10-year period, instead of the sales-tax option, but it ultimately did not even come to a vote.

---

Contributing: Nicole Warburton

E-mail: bbjr@desnews.com