Maryland DOT Backs Gas Tax, Pleads for Cash amid Lawmakers’ Qualms

Tom Warne Report, 8 February 2013

Capital Gazette.com – February 6, 2013

Transportation officials in Maryland came out in support of a new tax on gas in the state this week, saying they need $800 million more annually for transit projects. Maryland Department of Transportation officials told the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee Tuesday that they hope to boost stalled transportation projects like Metro’s Red and Purple lines.

Committee members were skeptical in response, saying that even though the gas tax has not changed in 20 years, the Transportation Trust Fund has received a boost from higher titling tax rates passed in 2007, and recent year’s fee and fare hikes.

Darryl Mobley, acting secretary for MDOT, said current state funding cannot do anything but maintain systems. There is not enough funding to start construction on many projects, including the planned Purple and Red Lines, he said. “We need to find a way to fund the next projects,” Mobley said. MDOT is supporting a transportation funding proposal by Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr., D-Calvert, that would include a new 3 percent gas sales tax, among other alternatives, to pay for mass transit projects.

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