Momentum pumping for upping gas tax in Elkhart County?

September 27, 2011|By Colleen Ferreira (cferreira@wsbt.com), Click here to follow Colleen on Twitter | By Colleen Ferreira (cferreira@wsbt.com), Click here to follow Colleen on Twitter

From potholes to paving, some Elkhart County Roads are in pretty bad shape. So the county council president is pushing to increase the gas tax by 10 cents a gallon to help fix the miles of deteriorating pavement.

There's already an 18 cent per gallon gas tax in Indiana, but Elkhart County sees very little of that revenue. And the county is short $3.5 million this year when it comes to fixing the roads. Add in bridges and road maintenance, the shortfall is even more.

In light of that financial picture, county council president John Letherman says a gas tax hike now makes sense. “We have a need to maintain what we have," Letherman said. "If we don't see some changes pretty quick, we're going to be upside down to the point where they're going to be falling apart and then they're going to be really expensive to fix," Letherman said.

But others say 'no way!'

“I think it stinks," said Pam Potts from Elkhart County. Potts doesn't think 10 more cents a gallon is fair. "People are out of work in Elkhart County and they can’t afford to have any more things put on their back," Potts said.

Elkhart County maintains more than 1,000 miles of county roads, four lane roads and subdivision streets. While many of those miles of roads need repaving, very few will be done because of the county's road money shortfall.

It costs $100,000 a mile to repave a road. But it costs up to $500,000 a mile to completely reconstruct a road if the asphalt deteriorates.

Letherman said he's saving the taxpayers money in the long run, but some lawmakers aren't on board with his proposal.

"I am opposed to the increase of gas tax there is never a good time to increase any tax, but especially during a recession, it's even worse," said State Rep. Tim Neese (R-Elkhart).

Some say, it's about compromise.

"I travel down some back roads that are really really bad and if they could fix some of these roads I could deal with gas prices being high," said Gary Yoder, who works in Elkhart County.

So what about the wheel tax Elkhart County has?

Neese said the wheel tax has fallen short and the county needs more funds to work with in order to make all the necessary road and bridge repairs, hence the proposed increased gas tax.

But how likely is the gas tax increase? On the state level, Neese said it's unlikely because it would be difficult to mandate the tax over counties that don't have many miles to maintain.

But it's possible the state may allow local governments the option to increase the tax if needed.

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