A South Dakota legislative committee has recommended a substantial boost in taxes used to build and maintain state and local roads, but some lawmakers say the full Legislature will never pass such a large tax increase.
The panel voted 11-6 to pass a bill that would raise road taxes in two stages, with half the increase imposed next year and the other half in 2012.
The state gas tax would rise from 22 cents to 32 cents a gallon and the excise tax on vehicle sales would increase from 3 percent to 4 percent by 2012 to give the state an extra $75 million a year.
Annual vehicle registration fees would rise to give counties, cities and townships an additional $31 million.
While new taxes are never good, I still think that a gas tax and vehicle registration fees are the fairest way to pay for roads. Of course, I’m sure some legislators would prefer to pay for new roads by taxing food more.