LITTLE ROCK: Several members of the Governor’s Working Group on Highway Funding voiced interest in recommending a fuel-tax increase to help fund highway needs, though one member said the idea is not politically feasible. Craig Douglass, executive director of the Arkansas Good Roads Foundation, said he would support increasing the state’s gasoline and diesel taxes by 10 cents per gallon.
“For significant revenue that would net the (Arkansas State Highway and Transportation) Department $110 million to $125 million quickly in order to match federal funds, in order to get them, in order to reinstate the critical overlay program, which impacts jobs in Arkansas and also extends the usable life of the existing highways, reducing our long-term costs on maintenance and construction, motor-fuel tax is what we believe we have to look at,” he said.
The working group has been meeting since June and has until Dec. 15 to present recommendations to Gov. As a Hutchinson. In addition to a short-term need for matching funds to obtain federal dollars for highway projects, state highway officials have identified $20.4 billion in needs over the next decade, with only $3.6 billion in revenue for highways expected in that time. Douglass said 10 to 12 other states have passed recent fuel-tax increases successfully.
With gas prices dropping, the timing for an increase is right, he said. “Politically, it probably would be real smart to do it and do it real quick, but the important thing is that as gas prices continue to fall, that the motorist would be impacted less now than he or she would be later,” he said. State Highway Commissioner Frank Scott Jr. said he would favor raising the fuel tax by 15 cents and phasing in the increase 5 cents per year over three years. He also said he favors indexing the rate to inflation and charging motorists for “reportable miles traveled.”
