How .04 Could add up to Millions from Washington
Voters in Grand Traverse County will decide this November whether or not to pay more taxes to repair roads.
We told you about it in a fact finder report last week.
Some of you wrote in saying it shouldn't be all taxpayers who have to foot that bill: those who drive more should pay more.
And some lawmakers in Lansing agree and have recently introduced a new plan to boost the state's gas tax.
The details are tonight's Fact Finder Report.
Right now in Michigan you help pay for road repairs every time for fill up the car with gas: .19 a gallon.
But there's an effort to pay for more road repairs by having you pay more at the pump.
Representative Richard Ball says, "We don't like to call it a tax but a lot of people will, it's really an investment in our infrastructure of our transportation system."
The Transportation Investment Fund is a measure sponsored by Republican Representative Richard Ball and Democratic Representative Pam Byrnes.
It's a two phase increase in the gas tax. The first phase would raise the tax .04 from .19 to .23 on a gallon of gas. Then in 2013, phase two would raise it another .04 from .23 to .27 on a gallon of gas. Diesel would also face a hike taking it to .27 a gallon.
Representative Ball says phase one would bring in $240 million a year, and phase two would bring in $480 million a year.
He says, "We're trying to do it with as little increase as possible but still have enough to do the repairs and restructuring on the roads and bridges that's critically necessary."
But quality of our roads isn't the driving force behind getting this legislation approved quickly.
Rep. Ball says, "it's never a good time for an added tax no body likes that and we understand that but the need is so critical that we're going to start losing hundreds of millions of dollars a year if we don't get enough money to draw down the federal contribution."
He says starting in 2011 the state won't be able to afford to make the required match for federal funding and may lose hundreds of millions of dollars a year from Washington each year. And if our roads are this bad with all of that federal money, just imagine what they'd be like without it.
"We're in a very crisis situation."
Supporters say an increase in the gas tax would also pay off by creating jobs and encouraging more businesses and tourists to come to our state.
But there is something different about this tax.
Rep. Ball says, "We're asking you to do something very difficult, take 4 pennies out of your pocket for every gallon of gas you buy, but we're also asking all of the people rebuilding the roads to do it more efficiently."
MDOT, county road commissions, cities and public transit would all have to show how they are working more efficiently and would have to show the public how the money is being spent.
Rep. Ball says, "Some people say never support a revenue increase period. To those people I say potholes don't fix themselves. It takes money to fix them. If you don't want to get some revenue to do that then give me an alternative of where the money is going to come from or you're just going to get more potholes. We really don't have a choice because we are running out of time."
So what do you think about this? Is this the time to raise taxes in our state? How are the roads on your drive? Do you have a better idea to fix the problem?
Take part in our poll about this issue and Leave your comments below.
