County’s 6-Cent Gas Tax Ends in August
Expiration of the local tax could mean good news at the pumps, but don’t spend the extra cash just yet.
Carrollwood and Northdale residents hoping to save a little at the pumps could get a reprieve if Hillsborough County’s 6-cent local option gas tax is allowed to expire Aug. 31.
Don’t go spending the extra cash just yet though.
If the county allows the tax to sunset this summer, it could deliver a financial blow of about $22 million to Hillsborough’s budget, officials say.
The County Commission meets Feb. 14 in a workshop where it will hear preliminary budget figures for Fiscal Year 2014, which begins on Oct. 1, 2013.
That 6-cent gas tax is used by the county to fund road maintenance projects and transportation operations. Without the revenue stream, the county’s anticipated $3.2 million budget deficit would likely grow to about $25.2 million, said Tom Fesler, the county’s budget director.
While it’s still too early to tell if the commission will pursue an extension for the tax, Fesler says it’s quite possible.
Without the tax, “we’d have to look at some pretty significant reductions in our traffic area.”
Money from the tax is also used by the county’s municipalities to fund traffic projects, Fesler added.
In order for the tax to be extended, the commission would first have to direct staff do so. Once that happens, new agreements with Hillsborough’s cities would have to be created and approved. From there, a new gas-tax ordinance would go before the County Commission and public hearings would be held.
The Feb. 14 workshop takes place at County Center, 601 E. Kennedy Blvd. from 1:30 to 3 p.m. A final budget for Fiscal Year 2014 won’t be adopted until Sept. 19.
See Also:
County Budget Numbers Are Looking Up
Carrollwood Area Gas Prices Rise
What would you be able to do with 6 cents left in your wallet for each gallon you pump? Share your thoughts in the comments section.
Nancy Stearns
8:26 am on Thursday, February 14, 2013
seems like a painless way to keep our county looking good.....without that 6cents I would hate to think what would hapen to our roads which in some cases are currently not in very good shape.
John Waller
10:13 am on Thursday, February 14, 2013
i wish they'd raise the gas tax a penny or two--our roads are falling apart
Magnus Thunderson
1:47 pm on Thursday, February 14, 2013
The infrastructure in the USA is based on a relatively fixed cent/dollar amount which has barely changed in 20 years so while inflation went up the amount collected stayed the same so now it paying out about 40% of what it did 20 years so even raising it a penny or two will not help much what really is needed will be quite painful as we need to double the gas tax and then tie it to inflation just to fix our current transportation infrastructure which we could totally fix in about 5 years however it will be 15 to 20 years in reality as we behind 2.2 trillion dollars which is why we get a D rating on the US infrastructure as a third of our roads are substandard and on out of four bridges are considered substandard and over 4000 dams are list as possible failure a number which have failed has more the doubled since 1990