Washington state is bucking the trend of gas prices trending downward by upping the price at the pump by 7 cents -- something drivers aren't happy about.
Washington drivers are not going to be happy when they pull up to the pump: the state is raising the gas tax by 7 cents to help pay for transportation projects, and more increases may be yet to come.
State gas taxes are now 44.5 cents per gallon in the state. Added to a federal tax of 18.4 cents, that means Washington drivers pay 62.9 cents to the government for every gallon they put in their tank, according to an Associated Press report.
Why the increase? The state is trying to fund a $16 billion transportation project that will last 16 years and was recently approved by the legislature and signed by the governor — now it appears they’ll need to dip into drivers’ pockets to help pay for it.
And it’s set to go up further. The tax will increase another 4.9 cents per gallon, meaning the state tax will be 49.4 cents per gallon next summer. That would make Washington the second-highest in the nation when it comes to gas taxes, behind only Pennsylvania.
State lawmakers argue it’s necessary because maintenance and preservation of Washington’s transportation hasn’t been good enough, and some investments need to be made in the next few years to make repairs and conduct improvement projects. In fact, Republican Sen. Curtis King of Yakima argued that it would actually save the state money, as not doing the project would cost the state three or four times more down the road, he said according to the report.
A total of $8.8 billion will be spent on state and local road projects, while $1.4 billion will go to maintenance and preservation, and another billion will go to non-highway projects including bike paths.
So Washington drivers will see big tax hikes — but what about your state? Unfortunately, no matter where you live in America, you may be at risk of seeing a tax hike in the near future. Already state legislatures in Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Utah have increased gas taxes, and Kentucky and North Carolina altered teh structure of their gas taxes in order to keep their revenues from declining.
As the average price of gas continues to fall, state legislatures may see it as an opportunity to slip in a hike without drivers getting too upset.
