Corbett wants a gas tax increase

Cedar Rapids Mayor Ron Corbett contends that if state lawmakers and Gov. Terry Branstad are really serious about property tax relief, they should raise the gas tax.

OK, now, hear the guy out. We did at an editorial board session this afternoon.

Corbett's argument is straightforward. The city spends about $20 million on road repairs every year. Money from the state Road Use Tax Fund, filled mainly with fuel taxes, accounts for $12 million. The rest, Corbett says, comes from property taxes.

On top of that, the city is carrying $88 million in debt it floated to pay for transportation infrastructure projects. That accounts for $1.25 of the city's total $15.22 property tax levy. More state dollars, the mayor contends, would mean less need for debt and property taxes to pay it down. Corbett insists that slicing that $1.25 would amount to a more significant property tax cut than the relief proposals being considered by state lawmakers.

Cedar Rapids has a 10-year list of road needs topping $150 million, a price tag that will rise. And more property tax dollars will be needed to cover it if state dollars remain stagnant. Or, the city will just have to opt for cheaper patch jobs or delay repairs. But problems get worse and more costly to fix.

City Manager Jeff Pomeranz sat next to Corbett and backed up his contention that road work will be slow going without a new source of revenue. Corbett and city leaders pushed for a 20-year sales tax increase in May that would have provided money for streets and flood protection, but it was rejected by narrowly local voters. Now they're looking to the state.

It's been more than 20 years since Statehouse types raised the tax on gas, which is 21 cents per gallon on gasoline, 22.5 cents on diesel and 19 cents on ethanol-blended gasoline. Corbett served a chunk of that time as a conservative Republican lawmaker, including a stint as House Speaker. I don't recall his push to raise the gas tax, but I could have missed it.

Many current GOP occupants of the Legislature and Gov. Terry Branstad have said this is  not a good year to raise the fuel tax. The economy is iffy. The year is even-numbered. What will the voters think?

Now that he's a self-described "small-cheese mayor," he sees the politics of a gas tax hike differently. Where lawmakers see nasty mailings and hear damaging radio ads from potential opponents flogging them for higher taxes, Corbett sees cracks and potholes and not enough money to fix them.

"Why? Because the fuel tax hasn't kept up with the needs of Cedar Rapids, or for that matter, any other community," Corbett said.

"As a mayor, I can't just sit back and take a hands-off an approach," Corbett said.

Corbett didn't say how much he'd raise the tax, if he were a big-cheese king, saying only that he doesn't think a phased-in 10-cent hike being considered by some lawmakers is unreasonable.

I've said I could live with a gas tax increase if lawmakers also change the road funding formula to send more dollars to urban areas , increase the Earned Income Tax Credit to soften the blow for low-income drivers and install a mechanism to temporarily rescind the increase if prices skyrocket.

Corbett says he'd like the formula changed, also, but he's willing to leave it as-is if lawmakers will just raise the darned tax.

But I can afford to be all high and mighty with strings attached. I don't have a budget to balance.