Traffic builds, roads deteriorate, but lawmakers leery of new fees

Idaho’s growing like mad, and so are its transportation needs, lawmakers heard Thursday, but the revenue that pays for that, the state’s 25 cent per gallon gas tax, has been relatively flat for more than a decade. That’s why the Idaho Transportation Board is recommending dramatic fee increases – 75 percent boosts in vehicle registration and permit fees, a 7 percent surcharge on gas, new development impact fees, fees on rental cars, and more. Four of those fee-increase bills were introduced Thursday in the Senate Transportation Committee, but Chairman John McGee, R-Caldwell, said they were introduced “just for discussion,” and some senators were uncomfortable with even introducing the bills. Read the full story here in today’s Spokesman-Review.