......... One of the more far-reaching proposals would revamp the state gasoline tax so that it automatically increases to reflect inflation.
Sen. John Carona, the Dallas Republican who chairs the Senate Transportation and Homeland Security Committee, said he filed the legislation to give Texas an alternative to toll roads.
Under his proposal, the motor fuel tax would be slightly increased each year to reflect the effects of inflation on highway construction costs. The current tax is 38 cents per gallon – 20 cents for the state and 18 cents for the federal government.
Mr. Carona said the annual tax increase probably would run about a penny or so per gallon, which would cost a typical driver who uses a thousand gallons of gasoline a year an extra $1 per month.
"If we do that over the next 25 years, we'll be able to leverage those additional funds into [highway] bond issues in excess of $45 billion" which he said would cover most estimated transportation needs over that period.
But if the tax is left alone, he said, toll roads will be the state's main option, and it could cost drivers $2 per day.
"The math is pretty obvious," the senator said. "It's not just a little more expensive for Texas drivers, it's a lot more expensive to build toll roads."
Gov. Rick Perry, who envisions a broad network of privately run toll roads across Texas, says that's the best way to meet the state's rapidly growing transportation needs.
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