DALLAS --A $1.2 billion per year transportation funding proposal from Indiana House Republicans would raise the state gasoline tax and require transportation planners to study the tolling of Indiana's interstate highways.
The 20-year plan outlined Wednesday by state House Speaker Brian Bosma would raise the state gasoline and diesel taxes by 10 cents per gallon, levy a new vehicle fee of $15 per year dedicated to transportation infrastructure improvements, and add a $150 per year registration fee for electric vehicles.
Bosma said the Republican "Investing In Our Future" legislative agenda would fund Indiana's infrastructure needs over the next two decades.
"Our goal is not to strap the next generation with the cost of building assets today, and that's what our state has been doing for generations," Bosma said. "It's a program that's responsive, comprehensive, sustainable, and it's for the next generation."
Indiana's gas tax is currently 18 cents per gallon, with another 13.2 cents per gallon in other fees and taxes. The state diesel tax is currently 16 cents per gallon but other fees and taxes add 25 cents per gallon.
Indiana's gas tax has not been increased since 2003 and the other fees haven't gone up since 1988.
House Bill 1002, which was filed Wednesday by Rep. Ed Soliday, R-Valaparaiso, would also direct the Indiana Department of Transportation to study the feasibility of tolling the interstate highways within the state.
The House Republican plan would require the Indiana DOT to seek federal approval to toll the approximately 1,100 miles of existing interstate highways in Indiana, Soliday said. Federal law currently prohibits states from levying tolls on existing interstates except for new lanes intended to reduce traffic congestion.
"When we look at the dollars from tolling, the numbers are very, very large," he said. "There's over 182,000 vehicles crossing the Indiana state line on Interstate 80/94 every day, and half of those aren't Hoosiers."
Soliday is chairman of the Indiana House Committee on Transportation and Roads.
Rep. Tim Brown, the Republican chairman of the state House Ways and Means Committee, said tolling Indiana's interstates could raise an estimated $500 million to $1 billion per year when fully implemented over five to seven years, depending on the per-mile fee.
HB 1002 would also add 10 cents per gallon to the state's motor carrier surcharge tax of 11 cents per gallon.
The higher taxes and fees in the House Republicans' plan would provide nearly $300 million of new money to state roads in 2018 and another $480 million in 2019, Brown said.
The higher gas tax could generate $166 million the first year, with another $128 million from the higher diesel tax and motor carrier surcharge, he said.
The state could realize $90 million in the first year of the proposed $15 per year infrastructure fee for all vehicles registered in the state.
Revenue from a state sales tax on gasoline that now goes to the general fund would be dedicated to transportation beginning in 2018, Brown said. The move would provide an additional $360 million per year for roads when fully implemented in 2022.
The nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency estimated that the proposals would bring in an additional $540 million in 2019.
The higher gasoline tax would cost the average Indiana motorist about $4 per month, Bosma said.
Bosma said fuel taxes are user fees.
"If you drive more, you pay more. If you drive less and use the asset less, you pay less," Bosma said. "Our overarching goal is to have a sustainable long-term and comprehensive road funding program."
Indiana lawmakers adopted a road-funding plan last year that provided $335 million per year of new revenue to Indiana DOT.
