FridaySeptember 03, 2010
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OPINION
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Tuesday, September 18, 2007 State gas tax goes to roads By Steve Dille Minnesota Gas Tax revenue is used exclusively for roads. This is the way it has been since voters amended the Minnesota State Constitution in 1956 and dedicated 100 percent of the gas tax to roads. The governor can not change this. The legislature can not change this. Only the voters of Minnesota can change this, because it is a part of our Constitution. Many people have communicated with me about supporting a gas tax increase if it is used only for roads. They are concerned that revenue could be diverted to the general fund and used for transit or some non-transportation purpose. This concern about the Minnesota gas tax is not valid. However at the federal level this concern has some validity because a small portion of the federal fuel tax does support mass transit. In 1932 Congress enacted the first excise tax on gasoline. This money was put into the general fund until 1956 when Congress created the Highway Trust Fund. Since then 100 percent of the gas tax revenue goes into the Highway Trust Fund and is used to build and maintain the federal highway system. In 1982 this changed with the creation of the Mass Transit Account. At this time the gas tax increased from four cents per gallon to nine cents per gallon and 20 percent of the five-cent increase was put into the Mass Transit Account. The federal gas tax has been raised since then in 1990, 1993 and 1997 with 20 percent of each increase going to the transit fund and 80 percent going to the highway account. The federal gas tax is currently 18.4 cents per gallon, of which 15.4 cents goes for highways, 2.9 cents goes to transit, and .1 cents goes to other accounts. The Minnesota Gas Tax is different from the federal gas tax in how it is distributed. Minnesota's current gas tax is 20 cents per gallon and has not been raised since 1988 when it was 17 cents per gallon. One hundred percent of revenues from the gas tax may be spent for highways only. In 1956 Article XIV, Section 5 of the Minnesota Constitution was amended to create a Highway User Tax Distribution Fund, which would dedicate 100 percent of revenues to roads. The language reads as follows. "There is hereby created a highway user tax distribution fund to be used solely for highway purposes as specified in this article. The fund consists of the proceeds of any taxes authorized by sections 9 and 10 of this article. The net proceeds of the taxes shall be apportioned: 62 percent to the trunk highway fund; 29 percent to the county state-aid highway fund; nine percent to the municipal state-aid street fund. Five percent of the net proceeds of the highway user tax distribution fund may be set aside and apportioned by law to one or more of the three foregoing funds. The balance of the highway user tax distribution fund shall be transferred to the trunk highway fund, the county state-aid highway fund, and the municipal state-aid street fund in accordance with the percentages set forth in this section. No change in the apportionment of the five percent may be made within six years of the last previous change." This amendment passed 83.5 percent to 16.5 percent. So you can see that if we raise the State Gas Tax, 100 percent of the money will go to roads, whereas if the federal gas tax is raised, 20 percent of that money will go to transit and 80 percent to roads. Metro area legislators are generally not supportive of this distribution formula. They want more money for mass transit (buses, light rail and commuter rail). Rural legislators on the other hand are usually supportive because the current formula favors greater Minnesota where there are more miles of highway than in metro areas. The transportation amendment to the Minnesota Constitution adopted by voters during the 2006 election helped accommodate metro area concerns over lack of transit funding. It dedicated 100 percent of the 61/2 percent Motor Vehicle Excise Tax that is paid on motor vehicle purchases to transportation. Up to 60 percent of this revenue may be used for roads and at least 40 percent must be used for mass transit. | ||||
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