Tom Warne Report, 8 March 2013
Wyoming’s fuel tax rate is going up by 10-cents per gallon to 24 cents with Gov. Matt Mead’s signing a bill into law that will help bridge a $135 million funding gap for road maintenance. The last increase to the 14-cent-per-gallon tax rate was in 1998.
The governor has been pushing for a fuel tax increase since he was elected two years ago. Last month in his State of the State address, Mead urged lawmakers to approve the ten-cent increase which he said would create a long-term funding source for state and local road work.
The increase, which will be implemented July 1, will raise about $72 million in new revenue in the first year, according to WYDOT. About half of the amount needed to cover the shortfall – about $47.4 million – will be earmarked to state highways. Cities and counties will each receive $16.4 million and $6.7 million, respectively, and the remaining $1.2 million will go to state parks.