Gov. Whitmer Proposes Gas Tax Increase To Fix The Damn Roads

In case you were living under a rock during the election in 2018, our now Governor, Gretchen Whitmer, promised to "Fix the damn roads".  Well, now she has a plan to do that, but a lot of people are saying "Fix your damn plan to fix the damn roads!"

Gov. Whitmer proposed a 45 cent tax increase on the price of gasoline and diesel fuels to fund road repairs.  If the budget is approved and passed, the increase will take place over a year with three 15 cent increases.  The first would take place October 1, 2019, the second on April 1, 2020, and the third on October 1, 2020.

The increased tax would yield $2.1 billion annually to be used for road repair and maintenance.  Currently, our gas tax is 26.3 cents per gallon and after the increased tax it would be 71.3 cent per gallon, making the tax the highest in the nation.  And by the way, we already have the 5th highest tax on gas in the country.

According to The Detroit Free Press, the tax would "increase the cost of a 15-gallon fillup by about $6.75."

In order to combat the higher gas prices, Whitmer also proposed some targeted tax relief for Michiganders.

You can read more about the proposal and what it might mean for the average Michigander's pocketbook and our roads on The Detroit Free Press website.