When it comes to gas tax is ‘political will’ the same as courage, or the lack of it?

Gordon Garnos

AT ISSUE: The 17 members of a legislative committee are trying to come up with a “painless” way to increase the funding for South Dakota’s highways and bridges. The legislative panel estimates the state needs nearly $90 million more a year to keep our highway system running smoothly. The ideas so far run from eliminating the gas tax–yes, eliminating it–to doubling it and increasing some fees as well. But whatever they do “painless” seems a little absurd.

IT SEEMS IT WAS about a year ago a legislative committee was attempting to come up with a way to increase the funding to maintain South Dakota’s highways and bridges. As I recall the options ran from raising the state’s 22-cent gas tax to adding some kind of a mileage counting thing-a-ma-jig to every vehicle in the state (at the owners’ expense) and tax the miles they have driven. By the way, another option would be to do nothing and leave it up to the full legislative body to find an answer to the lack of funding.

Our legislators are now back at it trying to find a “painless” way to raise funding for highway and bridge maintenance, but whatever they look at it will cause pain to some.

The fact that neither last year’s committee nor the full Legislature came up with any solutions, I’m reminded of the phrase, “Same song, second verse, a little bit louder and a little bit worse.”

ONE OF THE REASONS I heard the Legislature failed to do anything about increasing the highway funding during last year’s session was its lack of “political will.” I believe I wrote about it, asking if lack of “political will” had anything to do with courage, or the lack of it.

As I recall, I may have chastised our legislators back then for being politicians instead of statesmen in solving a major problem, failing to find the revenue to keep our highways and bridges safe.

The committee now has accomplished something. It has met twice in June, and plans to meet again in August and October in hope its members will come up with one or more solutions to the highway funding problem. I say, “Good Luck!”

State Senator Dan Ahlers, D-Dell Rapids, has a novel idea. He said, “Let’s dump the gas tax.” That sounded pretty ridiculous at first, but when he gave his reasons, the idea did sound a little plausible. He said as the feds increase the fuel efficiency standards and as the new technologies become more common the gas tax will be old fashioned.

He suggested looking at additional licensing fees, wheel taxes and removing exemptions that allow some special interest groups to pay less. He also recommended the Legislature eliminate the 30 percent reduction on license fees for cars and trucks older than five years.

COME TO THINK of it, while Ahlers does have an idea, I feel a better one is still out there, somewhere. For example, South Dakota’s tax has stood at 22 cents a gallon for a number of years for both gasoline and diesel. It along with a three percent tax on vehicle sales is the state’s main source of funding for highway maintenance.

With the federal tax on gasoline at 18.4 cents per gallon the national average, which includes state taxes, was 45.6 cents per gallon for the first quarter of this year. The national average for diesel was 50.8 cents, including a federal tax of 24.4 cents. State diesel tax is 22 cents per gallon, the same as it is for gasoline. So, it’s easy to see that South Dakota is below the national average in both categories.

ANOTHER OPTION mentioned would be to add a penny to the state’s sales tax. It has been said that this would be more fair because it would tax more people. But wouldn’t that debate center on that extra penny being unfair to those who do not have a vehicle and wouldn’t ordinarily have to buy gasoline or diesel?

The committee needs to find a solution. It appears that raising the gas tax is the best way to go for now. In other words, those who use our highways and bridges should really be the ones paying for their upkeep. But increasing any tax, especially next year being an election year, I don’t hold out much hope for solving the problem by raising any tax or fee.

Perhaps lack of “political will” during the next legislative session will turn into “political courage” and to Hell with the voters who disagree.

Well, it was a nice thought anyway….

Gordon Garnos was long-time editor of the Watertown Public Opinion, retiring after 39 years with that newspaper. Garnos, a lifelong resident of South Dakota except for his military service in the U.S. Air Force, was born and raised in Presho.

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