Wisniewski proposes raising gas tax
February 21st 2008 12:54 pm
I wrote about the advantages of raising the state’s gas tax back in October. Now, Assembly Transportation Committee Chairman John Wisniewski (D-Middlesex) has proposed a combination of an increased gas tax, increased tolls, and selling the lottery as a way to pay down state debt and pay for transportation projects:
Wisniewski’s plan would not create the public, nonprofit corporation that Corzine has proposed for operating the toll roads. Instead, the New Jersey Turnpike Authority would continue to run the Turnpike and the Garden State Parkway, and also would take over the Atlantic City Expressway from the South Jersey Transportation Authority…
Wisniewski’s plan would boost tolls on the Turnpike by 25 percent three times between this year and 2016. Garden State Parkway tolls would be increased by 15 cents this year and 25 cents in 2014, and Atlantic City Expressway tolls would go up by 25 cents this year and again in 2014…
Wisniewski’s plan also would increase New Jersey’s gas tax by six cents a gallon in each of the next three years and by the cost of inflation every year afterward. The state taxes on a gallon of gas in New Jersey are 14.5 cents today. Only Wyoming and Alaska have lower rates…
Wisniewski’s plan would use neither toll nor gas tax revenues to reduce general state debt. Instead, he said, the sale or lease of the Lottery could raise up to $10 billion for that purpose. His plan also embraces a tax on water consumption of up to $8 per quarter to pay for open space preservation, freeing up other funds for debt reduction.
Of course there’s no magic bullet, but this plan sounds a lot more fair than Corzine’s scheme. (I pointed out how unfair Corzine’s scheme is in this post.) Wisniewski’s plan also avoids the overhead of an additional layer of bureaucracy. And the 18 cents/gallon gas tax increase will cost only $7.50 per month for driving 15,000 miles/year in a car that gets 30 miles/gallon.
LRTADV responded on 21 Feb 2008 at 1:33 pm #
What? No tax on the air we breathe? That seems to be the only thing he left out!!
I already pay enough taxes.
Nick responded on 21 Feb 2008 at 2:40 pm #
Has it been considered that the Governor’s plan - as nuts as it is - could have been a red herring to get other legislators to really think about this issue?
There’s an old story that says the best was to get yourself a motorcycle is to tell your wife you want a pilot’s license. In this case, its possible that the only way to raise these funds is to propose something outrageous, and go with a different, more reasonable plan. He’s also more likely to get legislative buy-in from a plan that comes from that level. So it turns into a win-win for the Gov - taxes go up, and he avoids a nasty fight with the legislature.
Of course, we end up paying more.
Jishnu Mukerji responded on 21 Feb 2008 at 3:47 pm #
On top of it all, the worst thing in the Governor’s plan is to make this proposed public non-profit not subject to freedom of information act, thus creating another opportunity for secret pay to play games involving huge amounts of money.
Eine Kleine Multi-level responded on 01 Mar 2008 at 6:40 pm #
Corzine keeps backing off this issue. It can’t be as much of a hot potato as the politicians act like it is.