MI Senate Wants To Raise Your Taxes

The Michigan Senate voted yesterday (Thursday) on legislation that could double your fuel taxes to pay for road infrastructure improvements in Michigan.

• Beginning in April, gasoline and diesel would be taxed at 9.5 percent of the wholesale price of gas.
• That would increase to 11.5 percent in 2016,
• 13.5 percent in 2017
• and 15.5 percent in 2018.

The bill also includes higher fines of overweight and oversized trucks, would replace current per-gallon fuel taxes with a wholesale version.

The State of Michigan currently charges a 19-cent flat tax on a gallon of gasoline and a 15-cent tax on diesel. If we look at current wholesale prices, those taxes could top 40 cents by 2018.

The Michigan Senate believes that once these tax increases are fully implemented they could generate between $765.3 million to $1.5 billion a year in new revenue, depending on wholesale prices, according to the non-partisan Senate Fiscal Agency.

The fuel tax increase bill passed the Senate in a 23-14 vote and now heads to the House. Thirteen out of 25 Republicans who were present voted for the measure, joining 10 of 12 Democrats.

What are your thoughts?

Could we have generated the same amount of money by cutting spending and reallocating money from other areas within state government (as the state House did which allocated a third of these funds in their bill)?

Call me today on the Live with Renk show, Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to noon, to let me know your thoughts at 269-441-9595.