With gasoline prices rapidly approaching $4 a gallon, who wouldn’t want to pay less at the pump the next time they need to fill up?
But a plan now circulating in Concord that would do that – at least temporarily – is so clouded in political rhetoric that it should be called out for what it is: A shameless attempt to pander to voters under the guise of tax relief.
So it is with House Speaker William O’Brien’s idea to reduce the state’s gasoline tax – already the ninth-lowest in the country at 18 cents per gallon – by an inconsequential 5 cents until the end of the fiscal year June 30.
Last week, the House of Representatives voted, 208-98, in favor of this plan to amend SB 78, a bill that would eliminate a $30 surcharge on annual car and truck registrations. The Senate already has approved that measure, 19-5, but the House wants to use it to cut the gas tax for the better part of two months in the name of taxpayer relief.
There are at least two basic problems with this approach: Not only would it not provide any meaningful relief to state motorists, but it also would take money away from the state highway fund that would be used for road and bridge work – in a state that recently was ranked the 11th-worst in the nation based on its percentage of “structurally deficient” bridges.
Let’s do the math for three different-sized vehicles – a compact, a full-size car and a large SUV – based on the current New Hampshire unleaded gas average price of $3.94 per gallon:
n The owner of a 2012 Honda Civic, with its 13.2-gallon fuel tank, would spend $52 today to fill it if it were bone dry, or $51.35 under the House’s plan: a savings of 65 cents.
n The owner of a new Chevrolet Impala, which has a 17-gallon tank, would spend $66.98 to completely fill it today vs. $66.13 if the House plan were to be adopted: a savings of 85 cents.
n And the owner of a Ford Expedition, considered a full-size SUV with a 28-gallon fuel tank, would spend $110.32 to fill up vs. $108.92: a savings of $1.40.
In each case, the savings would be so miniscule it wouldn’t be enough to purchase one medium-sized cup of coffee at your favorite morning stop.
But this foolhardy plan would be more than enough to blow a sizeable hole in the state’s highway fund – and we’re talking millions here, not pennies.
Administration officials estimate that cutting the gas tax by 5 cents for two months would cost the state highway fund roughly $7 million – with about $800,000 of that targeted for work on local roads and bridges.
And that’s on top of the $90 million that would be lost over the next two years if the Legislature were to be successful in repealing the $30 surcharge on car and truck registrations.
In fact, Deputy Commissioner William Pillsbury of the state Department of Transportation has gone so far as to suggest his agency might have to delay purchasing the white paint used to line state highways.
Fortunately, the state Senate appears to be less enamored with this feel-good legislation and has yet to schedule a vote on it. And Gov. John Lynch has pledged to fight this plan, raising the possibility of a veto if the Senate were to follow suit.
Should it come to that, we urge him to do so.
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