Hike taxes for road repairs?
EconoMeter panel considers governor's infrastructure funding options
Roger Showley, U-T SAN DIEGO
Friday, January 9, 2015
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Kelly Cunningham, National University System
Answer: NO
California’s high gas taxes, already among the nation’s highest, further increased as of Jan. 1 by imposing additional cap-and-trade taxes. Now California car and truck drivers pay the nation’s highest gas taxes by far. Having previously collected more than enough to maintain highways and bridges, California’s total per-mile highway expenditures are 4.7 times more than the national average according to the Reason Foundation. Despite significant increases in per-mile highway spending, California roads and bridges nonetheless remain in poor condition. One wonders if it will ever be possible to impose enough taxes to cover all this state spends?