A recent poll found more than half a dozen states are more concerned about deteriorating roads and bridges than they are about eliminating taxes, a posting Monday on the Pew Charitable Trusts news service Stateline said.
To meet infrastructure needs, several states have had to increase other taxes, such as gasoline taxes. These states include Idaho, Iowa, Georgia, Nebraska, North Carolina, Kentucky, Utah and South Dakota. Four of these states are currently finalizing infrastructure funding increases or are still discussing infrastructure funding raises.
“A lot of states realized they couldn’t put off this issue any longer,” Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy Research Director Carl Davis said. “They saw they couldn’t trust the federal government to raise the gas tax and they had to do something on their own.”
Georgia was one state that increased its gasoline tax. The state raised the tax by approximately 6.7 cents per gallon on July 1.
“Here in Georgia, we’ve reached the point where current resources are not enough to preserve and maintain the infrastructure that is vital to businesses, current and prospective, and families all over the state,” Georgia Gov.
Nathan Deal spokeswoman Merry Hunter Hipp said. “This influx of funds will allow the state to maintain the roads and bridges that we travel on daily to get to our jobs, schools, homes and grocery stores — an investment that the governor feels that we can all support.”
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