Governor Murphy just does not get it! This October what you pay for gasoline will more than likely go up by two to four cents raising the gas tax to at least twenty five cents per gallon.
Per New Jersey 101.1 FM, “When the nearly 23 cent per gallon increase was approved in 2016, it was done so through a formula that guarantees the state a predictable level of revenue — $1.16 billion, on top of the existing gas tax collections that already existed at the time.
If collections go down, should demand for gas drop, the tax rate goes up. Those collections are now declining, with the official state Department of the Treasury forecast trimmed by $82 million Monday. That comes on top of reductions that had been forecast in March.
In all, the Treasury Department estimate for the petroleum products has been reduced by $126 million from the $1.487 billion predicted in the budget adopted last summer. The OLS estimate is $146 million lower than the number certified a year ago.”
Murphy and the legislature just do not get the fact that when the gas tax was dramatically raised in 2016 many who came from surrounding states to buy gasoline just do not have the incentive to do so anymore. Also as the years pass the newer cars are getting better gas mileage and many more people are getting hybrid or electric vehicles.
Trying to justify raising the gas tax is a losing proposition, because it can continue to be increased and the revenue will just keep going down or staying level. What is not being taken into account is the fact that as the price of gasoline rises, unnecessary trips are cut back and people are choosing vehicles that get better gas mileage.
You also have to understand that as electric and hybrid vehicle sales rise, the tax revenue that pays to fix our roadways will become smaller and smaller. Until and unless the New Jersey legislature wakes up to these facts the monies collected will never match the projected revenue. It will become a game of trying to catch up and all this will do is drive people towards buying electric and hybrid vehicles.
At some point there will have to be a tax on how many miles you drive per year to pay for highway upkeep and new construction projects. I can not see this as being a very popular idea, but how else can the state get the monies it needs?
That is my opinion- Jumpin Jersey Mike
