Panel: Arkansas Won't Need Tolls if Fuel Tax, Bonds Are Passed
For the first time, the chairman of the five-member state Highway Commission has said there would be no need to pursue plans to collect tolls if the Arkansas Legislature passes the fuel tax proposal and voters approve a $575 million bond to finance road improvements.
Trucking apparently prefers a higher fuel tax over new tolls on some of the busiest truck routes in the country, but the industry wants the tax increase to be raised in increments rather than all at once, according to the Arkansas Motor Carriers Association.
The Highway Commission’s position is significant, because as soon as the 1998 federal highway bill opened the prospect of tolling freeways, the commission said Arkansas wanted to be one of the three eligible states. The panel projected that toll booths would collect nearly $100 million a year from truckers and motorists, with the road program netting more than $1 billion over 18 years.
On March 18, the Arkansas House Revenue and Taxation Committee approved a version of that approach crafted in the state Senate. It would raise the diesel tax by 4 cents a gallon immediately. The original plan would have approved a bond issue and phased in gasoline and diesel tax increases by a penny a gallon over three years.
Lane Kidd, president of the Arkansas Motor Carriers Association, said the industry would agree to the higher diesel tax. But he pleaded for more time for truckers, most of whom he said operated small firms within the state, to prepare for a $20 million tax increase.
“We’re willing to pay the tax. Simply give the industry time to phase it into our operations,” Kidd said.
The tax committee’s vote sends the fuel tax bill back to the full House, where it passed 85-14 on March 3.
For the full story, see the March 22 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.
