By Scott Buttram, publisher
MONTGOMERY — Alabama’s gas tax, currently 18 cents per gallon, is the fifth lowest such tax in the country. If Gov. Kay Ivey’s proposed tax increase passes, Alabama would vault to the 21st highest gas tax in the United States when the plan is fully implemented.
A built-in indexing mechanism in the bill, which allows the tax to automatically rise by 1 cent every two years if construction costs rise, could make Alabama’s fuel tax the 16th highest in the nation in four years.
The measure has already passed by an overwhelming margin in the House. The Senate is expected to vote on the measure Tuesday. The bill could reach Ivey’s desk as early as Tuesday afternoon.
Ivey called a special session for the legislature to consider the bill on Wednesday. The special session allows the measure to pass with a simple majority instead of the normally required three-fifths majority. But, so far, what was expected to be a close vote has been a walkover for lawmakers supporting the bill.
Over the weekend, in an interview by WSFA in Montgomery, Ivey revealed that leadership in the House and Senate had been working on lawmakers to pass the bill since before the last election.
“Well, all the freshman who ran for the House and Senate were indeed briefed on the need for an infrastructure bill well before they were elected and they were vetted by the House and Senate leadership, and if they were not for increasing the gas tax for infrastructure, they were not encouraged to run,” Ivey said. “The freshman may be knowing more than they may be telling you.”
One aspect of the bill sends a percentage of the new tax to cities and counties for road construction. The new formula for the proposed tax increase is based on population of the cities, which will be revised every five years. The old formula, which remains in place for the current 18 cents per gallon tax, is split based on the number of cities in any given county.
Locally, cities in the Tribune area would see the following changes in tax dollars for roads:
Argo would see an increase from $27,151 in 2017 to $68,817 under the new tax.
Clay would see an increase from $2,924 in 2017 to $82,749 under the new tax.
Center Point would see an increase from $5,096 in 2017 to $133,749 under the new tax.
Pinson would see an increase from $2,162 in 2017 to $64,759 under the new tax.
Springville would see an increase from $27,606 in 2017 to $69,333 under the new tax.
Trussville would see an increase from $9,130 in 2017 to $158,171 under the new tax.
To put that in perspective, including land acquisition, Trussville is spending about $5 million on the Valley Road extension.