Arkansas Committee Suggests Higher Fuel Taxes

A blue-ribbon committee that spent two years studying how to pay for road improvements in Arkansas has unveiled a list of possibilities that includes higher fuel taxes.

The commission suggested that one way to increase revenues would be for the state to index its 21.8-cent a gallon gasoline tax and 22.8-cent diesel tax to the state’s construction cost index.

If Arkansas did adopt such a fuel indexing plan, it would be the first state to do so.

The committee is scheduled to deliver its final report to Gov. Mike Beebe (D) on Dec. 1, but unveiled its list of possible revenue sources at the committee’s Nov. 17 meeting.

Other suggestions include a new excise tax on the wholesale price of motor fuels and a sales tax raise, the revenue from which would be used to pay off a new bond issue for roads.