PATCH POLL: Opinions Split on Iowa Fuel Tax Hike, What Do You Think?
Iowa lawmakers plan to propose an 8- to 10-cents-per-gallon fuel tax increase.
We spend a lot of money on gas already, and the price is expected to go up.
That's why on the surface a suggested Iowa fuel tax hike leaves a sour taste for many motorists, even if the tax is only 8 to 10 cents per gallon and will go to maintain Iowa's roads.
Iowans are split on what to do.
What do you think? Vote in the Patch Poll below and let us know in comments.
In Cedar Falls, lawmakers Sen. Jeff Danielson, a Democrat, says he is keeping an open mind to a gas tax increase because something is needed to take care of the roads, while his colleague Rep. Walt Rogers, a Republican, said increasing a gas tax now would be detrimental to the economy, but added that we need to find a way to improve our roads.
Economists, such as Iowa State University professor Dave Swenson, are backing the fuel tax. He says a 10-cent per gallon increase would cost the average family about $32 a year.
Meanwhile, opinions around the state are equally varied.
Take Bill Roads, a truck mechanic who commutes daily from Marshalltown to his job at First Fleet in Ames. He says a tax is needed to maintain roads. Jill Ackerman, the president of the Marion Chamber of Commerce, said the tax would support the expanding city of Marion.
Others such as Carmella Jones, owner of Carmen’s Flowers in Ankeny, says a tax hike will force her to increase delivery fees, which will hurt her customers, and Rafat Alawneh, owner of #1 CAB taxi service in Iowa City, said they will hold prices so it will hurt his business.
In This article
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FirstFleet
500 Bell Ave, Ames, IA -
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Carmen's Flowers & Gifts
516 SW 3rd St, Ankeny, IA
David Leonard
11:00 am on Thursday, January 26, 2012
Yes, raise the gas tax. We need good, safe roads. The way gas prices jump up and down, within a few months of changing the tax, few people will even remember it was raised.
Barbara Johnston
12:23 pm on Thursday, January 26, 2012
Absolutely NO to a gas tax increase. I am quite confident that Gov Branstad and the state legislature can find something to cut in order to pay for the Iowa roads. And the economist who is quoted as saying the tax increase would cost the average family about $32?? That's called "fuzzy math," folks. With my vehicle, it would cost closer to $145 per year. Maybe I wouldn't mind the gas tax in IA if Obama would let the Canadian pipeline come to the US and potentially drop our gas prices...just a thought.
a
5:35 pm on Thursday, January 26, 2012
as long as they dont start taxing bicycles and diet root beer im good with wat ever.
Stephen Schmidt
6:30 pm on Thursday, January 26, 2012
@Fred That may be my favorite comment ever.
Barbara Johnston
6:34 pm on Thursday, January 26, 2012
Fred, your hypocrisy is astounding. Why don't you go after the state legislators with as much venom and hatred as you do the local public servants - you know, the same local folks who share your restaurants, your grocery stores, your churches, your gas stations? Is that because you have friends in 'higher' places, namely in the Statehouse?!
a
8:55 pm on Thursday, January 26, 2012
Babs,
relax a bit now, i dont hate or venom, what ever that means. my goodness you have a short fuse. i just can only afford so much of these taxes and such. sorry if i offend you with my opinion.
B.A. Morelli
9:01 pm on Thursday, January 26, 2012
Legislators seem to be favoring the fuel tax approach over hiking the vehicle registration fee, as a way to share the pain with all users from in and out of state rather than registrations, which leave Iowans holding the bill. Is that fair?
Alison Gowans
9:47 pm on Thursday, January 26, 2012
We don't have toll roads, which are how a lot of other states fund their road projects. They're both forms of "user fees." I don't think toll roads are under consideration in Iowa, but if people had to choose, I wonder what they would pick?