With a new year, there’s always a promise of new beginnings and a fresh start, however, one thing motorists won’t be looking forward to is the upcoming rise in gas tax. Dozens of states will be raising their gas taxes in 2017.
Large increases will be seen in states like Michigan, which already has a gas tax of 30.54 cents per gallon. Michigan’s gas tax will rise by 7.3 cents per gallon. Nebraska will also see an surge to its current 27.7 cents per gallon by 1.5 cents per gallon. That state of Pennsylvania holds the highest gas tax in the U.S. with 50.4 cents per gallon and will see an increase by 7.9 cents per gallon.
As per the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, not all states will see a large increase in tax or any at all. States like North Carolina, Indiana, Florida and Georgia will only see a rise by a few pennies per gallon. New York and West Virginia will in fact have a reduction in gas tax. New York will drop by 0.8 cents per gallon and West Virginia by 1 cent per gallon.
For Alaska, who hasn’t had a gas tax increase since 1970, there’s a high possibility the state will see a triple in its cents per gallon in the next few years as stated by Governor Bill Walker earlier in December. Therefore, their current rate of 8 cents per gallon would double by July of 2017, then add another 8 cents around the same time in 2018.
The spike in gas taxes isn’t without warrant. Since may voters were in favor of many construction and transportation projects that total an estimated $200 billion, the only option for funding these endeavors is raising sales and property tax.
However, as part of their new year’s resolution state legislatures plan to put gas taxes on the table for a lengthy discussion. Let’s hope that unlike some of us, they keep their resolution.
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