Locke Pushes 11-Cent Gas Tax Hike Proposal Would Raise $456 Million, But Gop Remains Adamantly Opposed

A month after Spokane County voters rejected a gasoline tax increase to pay for street repairs, Gov. Gary Locke is proposing to boost the tax even higher.

The state’s top Democrat said this week he wants lawmakers to increase Washington’s 23-cents-per-gallon tax on fuel by 11 cents over six years.

That would raise more than $456 million for highway projects and would provide the county and city of Spokane a total of $4.2 million a year in additional funds for road work.

Locke maintains his plan is the fairest way to pay for overdue construction and repairs.

“Those who use the roads and the ones who put the wear and tear on roads should be the ones who pay,” he said Tuesday during a trip through Spokane to tout his plan.

But county voters - who roundly defeated a 2.3-cents-per-gallon gas tax increase on Nov. 4 - apparently disagree.

And Republican legislative leaders, who quashed a similar measure supported by some of their own last year, predict Locke’s proposal will fail just as miserably.

“As far as I’m concerned, we will not be raising a gas tax,” said House Speaker Clyde Ballard, R-East Wenatchee.

Locke’s plan would raise the state gas tax 5 cents in the first year. One penny of the increase would be returned to cities, and another penny would be returned to counties.

The tax would rise by slightly more than a penny each year for the next five years.

In the first two years, the state’s share would go toward a backlog of more than 170 projects costing upward of $800 million.

Only about $75 million of that would be spent on highway projects in the state’s 16 easternmost counties, based on figures provided by Locke. The rest would be spent in the state’s population center, the Puget Sound region.

Spokane’s portion of the money, based on population, would be about $1.9 million a year, estimated economist Rick Judd of the state Department of Transportation.

The county’s share - calculated using a complex formula based on miles of roadways - would be about $2.3 million.

“We’re facing such a downward spiral in our roads that a lot of it would go to maintenance until we got caught up,” said Spokane County Engineer Bill Johns.

But even proponents such as Dale Stedman, of the Spokane Area Good Roads Association, said they don’t expect to ever see that money.

“Right off the bat, the governor’s big problem is he’s running into an election year proposing a tax increase,” Stedman said.

Locke hopes to soften the blow for consumers by proposing a decrease in the tax for motor vehicle licenses. On average, that would cut Spokane County automobile owners’ $109-a-year tax by a third.

But, Stedman said, “whether that will sell is a very big question.”

Republicans insist it won’t.

In a year when the state is boasting an $865 million budget surplus, Republicans are “fascinated that (Locke) thinks the only viable option is raising taxes,” Ballard said.

While Ballard declined to disclose details of the GOP’s counter-proposal, he acknowledged it likely will involve shifting revenue from the vehicle license tax to transportation.

But Locke said that eventually would drain money from the state’s general fund and is not a long-term solution.

He also pointed out that to make that shift, Republicans technically would have to vote to increase the portion of the tax that goes toward transportation.

“If there is to be a tax increase vote anyway, let’s go with the one that’s fairest,” Locke said.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo Graphic: Gas tax increases