(Okoboji)—Don’t look for an increase in Iowa’s fuel tax anytime soon. That was the message Governor Terry Branstad had in an address to members of the Iowa Association of Business and Industry at their annual convention last week in Okoboji. Branstad says public support for any increase in the tax to fund roads and bridges is lacking. He attributes that to the already high price of gas. Branstad adds a more reliable source of funding is needed as the amount of revenue from the fuel tax will only continue to decline in the future…(click here for comment.) “The federal government is pushing for more fuel efficient vehicles. People are buying hybrids, electric vehicles and other vehicles, and we’re going to see some of the trucks convert to natural gas. So the revenue from the gas tax is going to continue to decline.”
Branstad instead says he’d be willing to look at some alternatives…(click here for comment.) “First of all today we already have something called the RIF Fund, the infrastructure fund, Revitalize Iowa’s Infrastructure Fund. That by the way is growing. It gets funding from gambling receipts. We also previous to 1975 used to earmark 10 percent of two cents of the sales tax for the road fund. So I think we ought to look at some other sources. And there’s others I think that might be out there as well to look at that could help us provide a more reliable, growing source of revenue to deal with the infrastructure issues we have with roads and bridges.”
Branstad says he’s going to request input and recommendations on the matter from the Iowa Department of Transportation as well as various other groups and organizations. He says his goal is to do something that won’t require an increase in taxes and fees but would re-direct some of the other already existing revenue streams toward roads and bridges.
