Dear Neighbor,
Gov. Mark Dayton wants to raise the gasoline tax yet again, but House Republicans issued a plan this week proving that is not necessary.
Dayton and other Democrats want to raise the wholesale tax on gasoline by 6.5 percent at the wholesale level, which means roughly 16 cents more per gallon at the pump today.
Forget for a minute how absurd it is to talk about raising taxes when the state has more than enough revenue and has a projected surplus (meaning projected overtaxation) of nearly $2 billion and rising through the 2016-17 biennium. Many of those same Democrats who propose increasing the gas tax want us to drive hyper-efficient cars and reduce our use of petroleum.
Let's get this straight: They want to tax us more on something while pushing us toward using less of it?
That is the kind of illogical action that gives people heartburn over government. Oh, that and when bureaucrats call light-rail train expansion a sound "investment" because trains return 38 cents on the dollar. That is not an "investment" to anybody with an ounce of fiscal wherewithal. That, taxpayers, is a money pit.
The House's Road and Bridge Act of 2015 put forward this week takes us a different direction. Instead of turning to tax increases, it involves prioritizing existing/future revenue to pay for our roads and bridges. It is a 10-year plan that puts $7 billion toward transportation – roads and bridges, not light rail – with no new taxes. This would replace or repair an estimated 15,500 lane miles for all roads and 330 bridges statewide.
One important part of the House plan places sales tax revenue already being collected on purchases of auto parts and places it into a new pot called the Transportation Stability Fund. This is not a new tax, just dedicating existing ones and estimates show this would generate nearly $250 million per year for work on roads and bridges – and even more in the future.
Parts of the state like ours in Minnesota would benefit because. Repairs of roads the House proposal would provide for local communities include:
-
$1.44 billion for county roads
-
$583 million for municipal roads
-
$282 million for small cities (fewer than 5,000 residents)
-
$60 million for township roads and bridges
In addition to the dedicated funds provided by the Transportation Stability Fund, the Road and Bridge Act of 2015 uses $1.3 billion in Trunk Highway bonds, $1.2 billion from realigning Minnesota Department of Transportation resources, $1.05 billion in General Obligation bonds, and $228 million in General Funds.
On a somewhat related note, House Republicans also unveiled a new two-year state budget proposal this week. It is a $39.9 billion plan with $2 billion in tax relief and $100 million put into reserves. This is in contrast to Dayton, who proposes spending $43 billion, does not place money in our reserves and increases taxes only two years after he championed the largest tax increase in state history.
We are still waiting for the Senate to produce its budget proposal and then we will have the three sets of plans necessary to start working toward a finished product. Stay tuned and please keep sending me your thoughts on the issues.
Sincerely,
Mark