October 10, 2014

Governing: Will Mass. Repeal Gas Tax Hike?

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Matthew Gardner, executive director of the left-leaning Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, notes that many states in recent years have gone down the same road as Massachusetts by linking fuel taxes to inflation or prices.

“It’s been a very welcome trend in the last few years toward indexing the gas tax for some measure of inflation,” he said. “A third of the states do it, which is the best possible development for a sustainable gas tax.”

Periodically boosting the gas tax makes sure states can keep up with construction costs, Gardner said. And higher gas taxes can make sure out-of-state drivers also pay for the upkeep of roads they use, too.

He also disputed the idea that tying gas taxes to inflation is undemocratic. If legislators leave taxes flat every year without a vote, he said, it amounts to a tax break every year that lawmakers never vote on.

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