Two state House panels have adopted what could be the first part of a comprehensive plan to pay for road repairs. The plan would generate most of the money by re-directing sales and use taxes collected at the pump to transportation. The plan also collects fuel taxes based on a percentage of every sale instead of a fee paid on every gallon. That would allow revenue to rise with gas prices.
State House Transportation Committee Chairman Wayne Schmidt (R-Traverse City) says the bills are a good start.
“Are we still going to work on them?” he said. “There could be some floor work because we want to continue to improve upon what I think is a very, very, very good proposal that’s going to get approximately 450 million dollars to our roads, to start fixing bridges.”
But it’s still a lot less than Governor Rick Snyder’s call for $1.2 billion for roads.
“It’s all a good package, but we still need more, and the discussions will continue,” said Jeff Cranson of the Michigan Department of Transportation. “But I think getting this much done is a really good sign.”
One thing that will not be part of a transportation funding plan, says Cranson, is toll roads.
“The administration is not talking about toll roads,” he said. “The administration is talking about the user fees that we have now, which are fuel taxes and using more of those to make the people who use the roads pay for the roads.”
The road funding plan could be voted on by the House next week, and then sent to the Senate.
