Proposal would mean doubling of gas tax in 10 years

The cost of driving your car is undoubtedly going up this year. The state is considering new tolls and another gasoline tax increase proposal is expected in the legislature Wednesday.

The gas tax already makes up the greatest share, by far, of Washington’s transportation revenue, about three-quarters of all state money come from the gas tax. Now, democrat Judy Clibborn, D-Mercer Island, is set to propose a new ten cent a gallon gas tax hike as part of a larger transportation revenue package in the House.

The ranking minority member of the House Transportation Committee, Ed Orcutt, R-Kalama says ‘No’ to a gas tax hike.

“What I think we need to do before we even talk about added taxes would be to deal with the cost-drivers involved in transportation; construction and maintenance. What we need to do is make sure that we’re using our current dollars to the fullest efficiency possible,” said Orcutt. He claims Washington’s transportation costs per mile are two to two-and-a-half times that of other states.

“You would think that if we’re in a normal range, sometimes it would be higher, sometimes it would be lower,” said Orcutt. “But the report that we got is that in every situation, when you compared us to other states, we’re higher than other states for similar projects in similar areas.”

The gas tax has increased significantly twice in the last ten years and Washington has one of the highest, if not the highest, gas tax in the nation.

“Currently, we’re at 37-and-a-half cents a gallon. If we increase by even eight-and-a-half cents a gallon, we would end up with a doubling of the gas tax since 2003,” said Orcutt.

Each year, AAA does an analysis of the costs of owning and operating a vehicle. Fuel, including gas taxes, makes up the greatest percentage of the cost, based on a gas price of $3.357 per gallon. The 2012 report shows that nationwide, the typical cost of operating a sedan is just shy of 60-cents per mile, or about $9,000 a year.

Undoubtedly, the gas tax hike proposal surfaces in Olympia today because other sources of transportation revenue have dried up. Voters rejected transportation funding at the ballot box, including the 2007 roads and transit measure.

“If you go way back to 1999, we collectively voted down the Motor Vehicle Excise Tax (MVET) and that took a third of our transportation funding away,” said Craig Stone, tolling director for the state Transportation Department. He thinks there’s growing sentiment for reimposing the MVET, also known as the car tab tax that voters eliminated by approving a Tim Eyman initiative.

“It is interesting that at some of our public meetings, a lot of people come up to me and say, ‘Boy, I’d rather pay a Motor Vehicle Excise Tax’ or ‘I’d rather pay more gas tax.’ “They feel that would be more equitable,” said Stone.

More equitable than tolls, some say, which are drawing new complaints with a suggestion to toll I-90. All are user fees but with electric and hybrid cars, gas tax revenue for transportation is down.

Representative Clibborn will reveal her full transportation revenue package Wednesday afternoon. A gas-tax hike would require a two-thirds majority in both the House and Senate or a vote of the people.