Tom Warne Report, 30 November 2012
Tying the gas tax to match inflation or otherwise adjusting Virginia’s current flat rate gas tax are some of the options Gov. Bob McDonnell is saying are on the table to fund the state’s growing transportation needs.
“I’m looking at a range of things,” McDonnell told reporters in Richmond. “I can tell you that every other major tax in Virginia – the sales tax, the corporate income tax, and the [personal] income tax – all fluctuate with economic activity because they’re a percentage … We’re looking at whether or not … [the gas tax] should fluctuate with economic activity, like every other tax in Virginia.”
Currently, Virginia’s gas tax is a set rate of 17.5 cents per gallon. When prices at the pump increase, the state does not see any more money, but sometimes sees even less, as commuters cut back in response to high prices.
Neighbors Maryland and the District of Columbia have a 23.5-cent gas tax, also a flat-rate. At the end of 2011, Gov. Martin O’Malley proposed applying the state’s 6 percent sales t to gasoline purchases, but the proposal failed.
A recent poll of Virginia registered voters found 92 percent agreed it is “very important” or “somewhat important” to improve the state’s roads and highways. The nearly 1,500 registered voters surveyed in early November found that while 57 to 38 percent oppose tolling parts of I-95 in the Commonwealth to pay for roads, if given the choice between tolls or a higher gas tax rate, 56 to 32 percent prefer tolls, according to the Quinnipiac University survey.