Push planned for gas tax increase

INDIANAPOLIS -- Some lobbying groups and lawmakers say a recently approved increase in the state gasoline tax will still leave counties and cities scrambling for much-needed road construction dollars.\nThey plan to push for an additional gas tax increase in the legislative session come January, even though a 3-cent increase approved during the recent special session will have just taken effect Jan. 1.\n"As difficult as that is to do in trying economic times, we believe that a good economic future depends on a good road system, and it is our job to advocate for that," said Matthew Brooks, a lobbyist with the Association of Indiana Counties.\nThe odds for success might be stacked against them.\nSenate Finance Chairman Larry Borst, R-Greenwood, said the tax increases passed in June will make it "pretty hard to consider any tax increases in 2003."\nAnd although state officials testified in favor of bigger increases earlier this year, the Indiana Department of Transportation plans no formal push for another increase during the next session.\nINDOT Commissioner Bryan Nicol said there will "still be needs that need to be met beyond that gas tax increase."\nBut he commended lawmakers for "stepping up" and approving what they did and said it would be a "big boost" to meeting some of the agency's short-term construction and maintenance needs. He also questioned the wisdom of the agency asking for another increase so soon.\n"On Jan. 1 the gas tax goes into effect. You turn around two weeks later and ask for a gas tax increase when you haven't even received a penny of it?" Nicol said.\n"I think the locals may approach it a little differently because they expect it a little bit more, and they have needs that are going unmet."\nThe increase will raise the state gasoline tax from 15 cents to 18 cents per gallon, with each penny generating an estimated $33 million in revenue.\nTwo-thirds of the new revenue will go to INDOT, with one penny being leveraged for about $450 million in bonding for state highway projects. Nicol said his agency is still determining how the money should be allocated.\nAbout $33 million a year in new revenue will be divided between the state's 92 counties and 480 cities and towns based on road miles and number of car registrations.\nDemocratic state Rep. Ron Liggett of Redkey, who pushed for a bigger gas tax increase last session, said that $33 million will not go far and will not meet appropriation levels of recent past years.\nFrom 1995 through 2001, lawmakers sent $365 million in state surplus funds to local road construction. Those appropriations were made before the state's finances took a dive.\nLiggett said he plans to file a bill in the next session that would bring Indiana's gas tax in line with Ohio's, which is 22 cents per gallon.\n"When it comes to the gas tax, you get what you pay for," Liggett said. "If you don't pay for it in taxes, you will pay for it in automobile repairs, and it will be more expensive to fix the roads in the future."\nBrooks, of the Association of Indiana Counties, said he suspected that chances for an additional gas tax increase next session are slim.\n"But that doesn't mean we can't at least make another effort," he said.