VACostCutting

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

A Consequence of Gas Tax Increases

Some legislators are proposing a statewide gas tax increase to fund transportation. Besides the prospect of reaching a point of diminishing returns as gas prices spike and Virginians eventually begin to drive less, a gas tax increase is also poor policy because it serves to perpetuate Virginia’s donor status when it comes to federal distribution of transportation dollars.

Currently Virginia only gets back 92 cents for every dollar sent to the federal government. The higher our state gas tax, the lower the likelihood the federal government will equalize what Virginia gets back versus what we already send to Washington.

While some legislators may want to subsidize transportation projects in recipient states, the vast majority of Virginians might not.

Below are the rate of return figues for all 50 states.


Alabama
106.91%
Alaska
526.85%
Arizona
92.00%
Arkansas
105.44%
California
92.00%
Colorado
92.00%
Connecticut
128.69%
Delaware
163.92%
Dist. of Col.
423.03%
Florida
92.00%
Georgia
92.00%
Hawaii
175.54%
Idaho
143.78%
Illinois
92.00%
Indiana
92.00%
Iowa
92.00%
Kansas
95.01%
Kentucky
96.14%
Louisiana
95.48%
Maine
95.62%
Maryland
92.00%
Massachusetts
92.00%
Michigan
92.00%
Minnesota
92.00%
Mississippi
95.80%
Missouri
97.80%
Montana
227.10%
Nebraska
99.12%
Nevada
93.53%
New Hampshire
100.47%
New Jersey
92.00%
New Mexico
114.22%
New York
109.79%
North Carolina
92.00%
North Dakota
207.44%
Ohio
92.00%
Oklahoma
92.00%
Oregon
101.87%
Pennsylvania
113.33%
Rhode Island
217.23%
South Carolina
92.00%
South Dakota
197.75%
Tennessee
92.00%
Texas
92.00%
Utah
92.30%
Vermont
204.85%
Virginia
92.00%
Washington
92.00%
West Virginia
169.31%
Wisconsin
102.95%
Wyoming
151.89%

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