NC STILL paying through the nose for gas. (But there’s NO MONEY for roads?)
Thom Tillis and Skip Stam are pushing for toll roads and lanes throughout the state — claiming that those concepts are the only way to pay for road construction and maintenance. Gov. Pat — in a move reminiscent of Barry Obama’s stimulus — wants a BILLION DOLLAR bond to pay for his “transportation plan.” The money needs to be borrowed, Gov. Pat claims, because we don’t have the money on hand.
The problem? We STILL have an astronomical gasoline tax. The total tax burden we take on every time we fill up is the largest of all the states of The Old Confederacy. Our burden is even bigger than that of liberal havens like Washington and Oregon. We’ve got a bigger tax burden than FLORIDA. We’re nearly twice the rate New Jersey drivers pay. We pay more than drivers in DC, Maryland and Delaware.
Our burden is 56.15 cents per gallon. In South Carolina, theirs is 35.15 cents per gallon. In Tennessee, their burden is 39.80 cents per gallon. In Virginia, drivers are paying 35.68 cents per gallon.
The gas tax money is supposed to be earmarked for road construction and maintenance. If there’s no money for what we need, where in the hell has all of the money gone? We’re paying out a lot. Somebody’s getting their hands on it. If it’s not going to road construction, WHERE is it going? How are our neighbors handling their road construction needs with much lower gas taxes?
The federal tax is something like 18 cents on the gallon of that 56 cents. And if I remember correctly around the time the GA was passing the lottery tax, they were increasing the gas tax. I also remember some talk about the gas tax to be capped at 26-27 cents(state tax) on the gallon. Now we’re closing in on 40 cents on the gallon (state tax) with no end in sight.
As a North Carolinian who has lived in this state my whole life, I clearly remember NC roads being better than SC roads and even GA roads. Now having traveled to both of those states in the past 3 years how are their roads better than ours with a lower gas tax (AND lower income taxes)?
Additionally, I would be interested to see if there is a correlation between the influx of out of state residents in the past 15 years and the overall increase in taxation.
I object to the high gas tax in NC as well, but could the difference be the mountainous terrain in the Western part of the state? It costs a lot more to build and maintain roads in the mountains.
Just think of all the lost revenue from border residents that is lost to VA and SC because of this disparity in tax rates. I know, because my friends and I talk about it all the time. I have a 40 gallon gas tank and a 20 cent saving per gallon is a savings of $8 per fill up. With my income, every penny counts. NC legislature get your head out of your $%S and fix this. Why do you think there are so many VA and SC gas stations close to NC borders? They know most travelers know of the price descrepency and are there to take advantage of the situation.
I ask this question every time I fill up. Is the gas tax revenue being used for vote buying projects? Who can investigate?
NCDOT revenue chart:
http://www.ncdot.gov/download/about/finance/2014SourcesofFundspiechart.pdf
NCDOT expenditure chart:
http://www.ncdot.gov/download/about/finance/2014Usespiechart.pdf
Combined:
http://www.ncdot.gov/download/about/finance/2014BudgetSourcesUses.pdf
Still spending $200 million per year on the Highway Patrol, out of funds intended for road construction/maintenance. IMO, that should be a General Fund expenditure.
In Ga all roads short of Interstate and “state” hwys are County maintained. This business of a state owned system is a hold over from 120 years of democrat nanny state.
This nanny system is built into everything here in NC…. My first clue when moving here? A brand new state credit union “bank” on every corner…
The road spending issue is just one small part of the bigger issue. Just like the schools complaining they don’t have enough text books or facilities are in disrepair, what are they doing with the money??? A teacher friend told me that some years 80% of the school budget is salaries and facilities.
Oh the Irony! Raise the gas tax to pay for roads. Insist on higher CAFE standards reduces fuel consumption, less fuel purchased, less revenue comes in.
Another point: Which governor raided the (so-called) “Highway TRUST FUND” to pay for another great socialist program?
Just remember “sustainable movement” is an eco-Marxist desire to destroy one’s access to privately owned vehicles and one’s independence. Got to love the progressive mindset!
News Flash: The United Mine Workers have contributed enormous amounts of cash to the political party that elected the eco-Marxist Barack Hussein Obama, who in turn has insisted on the destruction of the U.S. Coal Industry. Can you say STUPID is what STUPID does?
Eco-Marxists insist on wind energy. Turbines built in China for G.E. U-m-m-m, China is a Communist country who also burns enormous amounts of coal to generate electricity. Remember the Olympics and the dense air pollution? Oh, not to forget the wind farms are exempt from the Endangered Species and the Migratory Bird Acts as these “avian Cuisenarts” chop up protected birds such as the eagles, hawks, falcons, as well the nocturnal owls and bats. Oh don’t you love the irony of the “sustainable crowd?!?!?”