Win-win for Arkansas

Wow! Five years ago we were paying $3.78 per gallon for regular gas; four years ago $3.50; three years ago $3.38; two years ago $2.47 and today we are paying less than $2 in many places. What a win for the Arkansas consumer.

But, sadly, we are still driving around on the same old rough, underfunded, always behind in repair and construction roads because of insufficient funds.

Arkansas is missing a bonanza by not using some of these tremendous savings to catch up on our highway funding. If I am saving $1 to $1.50 per gallon, why wouldn’t I be willing (even eager) to put 10 cents or so into fixing our highways? I am as much of a “no new taxes” conservative as anyone, but this is a no-brainer.

One solution might be to leave the current gas tax as is and in addition collect a small tax per gallon on a sliding scale based on the average price of regular gas per gallon across the state. As prices rise, the special tax would decrease until it reached a point where it would cease. When gas prices go back down, the special tax kicks in again—the lower the price, the more the special tax.

This is not only a win for Arkansas but a win-win. We get to enjoy and have more money in our pockets, but we also get to enjoy the benefits of better roads. ED MERRICK Benton