paving the way

New laws aimed at fixing old roads and bridges are piling up in Concord, but one in particular seems to be leading the charge. A proposal to raise the “gas tax” has gained traction in the N.H. House. 

But don’t call it a gas tax in front of Rep. David Campbell (D-Nashua). It’s a “road toll,” according to state law—the words “gas tax” don’t actually exist on the books. Campbell looks at the toll as a user fee charged on each gallon of fuel and paid by the people who use the product. If you don’t use the gas, you don’t pay it. 

Call it what you like, House Bill 644 would raise the cost from 18 to 33 cents per gallon over the next four years. Starting in July, it would go up one nickel every other year, reaching 33 cents per gallon in 2013. 

That’s almost doubling the charge. But Campbell, the bill’s prime sponsor and vice-chair of the House Public Works and Highways Committee, points out that the fee hasn’t been raised in 18 years, since 1991.

Meanwhile, construction costs have climbed with inflation (even hyper-inflation up to 60 percent for fuel, asphalt, concrete and steel in the last four years). The state hasn’t collected any additional money to make up the difference. 

But Charles Arlinghaus feels that a recession is no time to raise this fee. He’s president of the Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy, a free-market think tank in Concord. “The question you have to ask yourself,” Arlinghaus says, “is, in a tough economic time, should we raise the gas tax? Should we raise any tax?”

“But it hasn’t been a good time for 18 years,” Campbell counters. “We’ve kicked the can as far down the road as we can kick it. Now we’re looking at grave financial consequences and infrastructure failure if we delay any longer.” 

Arlinghaus does not think repairs to roads and bridges are as urgent as Campbell claims. “The state is not falling apart. The infrastructure needs a lot of work, but we are getting that done,” he says. “(Lawmakers) say this charge won’t be much and that charge won’t be much, but it adds up. And I think we should back off.”

The Department of Transportation estimates that, under the current revenue structure, the highway fund will be in the hole $1.5 billion by 2018. Without that money, the state is not able to tackle new projects in the 10-year transportation plan, much less keep up with necessary maintenance, according to Campbell. 

For example he says, ideally, we would repave all of our roads every eight to 10 years. This breaks down to about 430 to 540 miles annually to cover all 4,300 miles of road maintained by the state. Due to budget constraints, we currently repave only 260 miles per year. And the more a road deteriorates, the more expensive it becomes to repair it, and eventually it needs to be rebuilt entirely, he says. 

Then there are the miles of roads maintained by cities and towns, in addition to the state’s 4,300 miles. Municipalities pay for that roadwork with property taxes and a portion of what the state collects from the gas tax. If the tax goes up, so will the amount of money towns collect from it. In fact, their take is expected to jump 50 percent. 

If HB 644 doesn’t pass, Campbell says, the state may slash the towns’ portion in order to meet its own needs. Towns would then be left with only property taxes to pay for roads. 

The way Campbell sees it, therefore, raising the gas tax is insurance against increased property taxes, and he thinks it’s affordable. If someone drives 10,000 miles annually at 20 miles per gallon, the 500 gallons they buy each year would cost an extra $25 with each nickel increase. 

“We wanted to deal with it in a way that was relatively painless,” Campbell says, explaining why he spread the increases over the course of four years. 
House Bill 644 was recommended for passage by its original House committee, Public Works and Highways, and it passed a roll call vote in the House 190-162. It is now with the Ways and Means Committee, and Rep. Campbell is optimistic it will pass. 

Front Door Politics is a weekly legislative update for everyone affected by New Hampshire laws. An online learning center, additional reporting, and a blog subscription are available at www.frontdoorpolitics .com.