Corbett's gas tax push

Gazette Editorial Board

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Cedar Rapids Mayor Ron Corbett knows that streets are a very big concern for residents and city officials. The challenge is finding money for the work.

In May, voters shot down a penny sales tax extension that would have provided resources for street repairs over the next 20 years. And nobody wants to see property taxes rise.

So it's no surprise that Corbett is looking toward his old Statehouse stamping grounds for an answer. The mayor is calling on lawmakers to raise the state's gas tax, which would help provide more dollars for city streets.

Corbett told The Gazette's editorial board that the city spends about $20 million on road repairs annually. Money from the state Road Use Tax Fund, filled mainly with state fuel taxes, accounts for $12 million of that total. Local property taxes cover the rest.

The city also has floated about $88 million in debt to pay for various transportation infrastructure projects. That accounts for $1.25 of the city's total $15.22 per $1,000 valuation property tax levy. More state dollars, the mayor contends, would mean less need for debt and property taxes to cover it.

In a year when lawmakers are slated to take up property tax reform, Corbett insists that slicing that $1.25 here would amount to significant property tax relief.

Cedar Rapids' 10-year list of road needs is at $150 million. If state funding remains stuck, property taxes will have to cover much of the cost. Otherwise, more patches and delays. Delayed repairs cost more over time.

Communities across Iowa wrestle with growing repair needs and tight budgets. The Iowa Department of Transportation, which also taps fuel taxes for state projects, has an

enormous, growing backlog of needs.

We understand the need, but we don't understand the continued Statehouse resistance to even debating a gas tax increase. Gov. Terry Branstad and others have argued that the time is not right, but growing lists of projects without the dollars to pay for them suggest it's past time.

It's been more than two decades since the gas tax was raised. It stands at 21 cents per gallon on gasoline, 22.5 cents on diesel and 19 cents on ethanol-blended gasoline.

On Wednesday, state Rep. David Tjepkes, R-Gowrie, and Sen. Tom Reilly, D-Oskaloosa, unveiled a bipartisan plan to raise the gas tax by 4 cents in each of the next two years, or 8 cents total, and an increase in vehicle registration fees, raising $200 million annually.

That proposal is a good place to start a debate that must happen now, not later. Infrastructure is a key component of economic growth, in Cedar Rapids and across the state.

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