Five for the road

An investigation by the Associated Press last week revealed that, given a choice, most Mainers would prefer not to pay higher taxes. Next up for the AP: a survey of residents who want worse roads or, to paraphrase a Vermont joke, whether motorists can get there from here.

Because that’s the choice. Good roads are expensive and are paid for through taxation. And, no, the money does not have to come from a proposed 5-cent increase in the fuel tax, but it does have to come from somewhere, especially if the state is interested in collecting the $40 million in federal matching funds and especially if towns and cities are to receive their share of the road-repair money. A user fee on motorists may not be the most progressive way to pay for road repair, but in an era of low gas prices and with a tax that hasn’t been touched in nearly a decade, it is a reasonable solution.

The state gas tax has stood at 19 cents since 1991, when it was increased by 2 cents. That value of that 2 cents has been eroded as the cost of repairing the roads as well as sanding, salting and plowing them have increased. For those who agree that Maine roads should not be allowed to degrade further, the question is how to pay for maintenance. Gov. Angus King found plenty of opposition to his nickel-increase proposal, but has not seen a lot of formal alternatives to his plan to fill the expected $56 million shortfall in the Highway Fund (which can be used only for road- and bridge-related expenses). Nevertheless, he has proposed phasing in the added tax over three years.

The problem for Maine is compounded by the ways it has avoided a higher gas tax in the recent past — it borrowed for road projects. As anyone with debt on a credit card can tell you, this increases the cost of the repair considerably. The 5 cent increase would drop Maine’s repair debt by nearly half over the next decade, putting it in line with the national average and cutting the cost of the work.

The tax would add approximately $26 to the cost of driving the typical car an average distance, 11,300 miles a year. As Gov. King has pointed out, that’s considerably less expensive than replacing front shocks, repairing a bent wheel rim or getting a new front-end alignment. The fact that tourists contribute significantly to Maine through the tax should make it even easier to consider.

Persuading people to increase a tax on themselves is rarely easy. But the nickel tax is far less expensive than letting Maine’s roads fall apart further.