State, Bay Area differ on gas tax
Most voters support repeal, but jammed, crumbling roadways have region singing different tune
If it were up to Bay Area voters, efforts to repeal the state’s recently enacted gas tax increase would die a quick death. But the Bay Area is not like the rest of the state, a new poll released Thursday found.
voters Statewide, said they 52 would percent repeal of likely the tax — which added 12 cents to the cost of a gallon of gasoline and 20 cents per gallon of diesel — compared with 43 percent who want to keep it in place. It was a different story in the Bay Area, where 60 percent of respondents want to keep the tax — and the $5 billion it’s expected to raise annually, mostly for road repairs — while 34 percent want to see it gone.
Supporters of the tax, which took effect Nov. 1, say the funds are desperately needed to address a $130 billion backlog of deferred roadway maintenance needs across the
state. The gas tax hadn’t been raised since 1994, and with more people driving electric or hybrid vehicles, coupled with inflation, there just isn’t enough money to maintain aging infrastructure, said Carl Guardino, a member of the California Transportation Commission, which is in charge of determining how the money is spent.
Oakland resident Varun Santhanam, 25, said he started driving when gas topped $5 per gallon, so he’s accustomed to high prices and understands the need to raise money for road improvements.
“It’s really obvious we need better infrastructure in California,” he said. “I don’t think anyone disagrees about that.”
Opponents, however, say enough is enough. Assemblyman Travis Allen, R-Huntington Beach, launched a repeal effort less than a week after the governor signed the gas tax bill into law. In addition to higher gas taxes, drivers will start paying higher vehicle registration fees in the newyear, with the increases ranging from $25 for cars valued under $5,000 to $175 for the highest- end luxury cars. And, beginning in 2020, electric vehicles will see an additional $100 fee.
The gas tax proposal never went before voters, and that irks Allen, who said residents were robbed of their voices.
“Californians (I spoke to) are tired of being stuck in the worst of the national traffic and having gas taxes raised without their consent and without their vote,” he said. “When more Californians find out how little we’re getting back in return for this unnecessary tax, the opposition will only grow.”
Many Bay Area drivers shared those concerns. Oakland resident Katie Martinez is all for improving the state’s crumbling infrastructure, but said it feels like the state isn’t spending that money wisely.
“If the money actually went to the roads, that’d be great,” she said. “But then you see things like the Bay Bridge. We paid three times for that bridge before it got repaired.”
The poll, conducted by UC Berkeley’s Institute for Governmental Studies, surveyed 1,000 California registered voters between Dec. 7 and 16.
There was a lot of support for improving transportation from voters in the Bay Area, saidMark DiCamillo, the director of the poll. And, DiCamillo said, that wasn’t entirely unexpected.
“It’s ground zero for the progressives in the state,” he said. “I think there’s just a bigger acceptance of (taxes) by voters here. They tend to viewthe importance of collective taxation as a way to make things better for everyone.”
Not so in other areas of the state: 67 percent of voters in the state’s inland counties support repeal, and even 51 percent of Los Angeles County residents agree.
What was surprising, DiCamillo said, is that many voters want to repeal the tax even though they agree the state’s roads are a mess that needs fixing.
“It’s a trade off,” DiCamillo said. “At least in this point in time, the perception is that the pain in the increase is outweighing the need for better roads.”
So far, Allen’s repeal petition has yet to gather any signatures while a California Supreme Court case decides how the ballot language will be presented to voters. A second effort led by former San Diego City Councilman Carl DeMaio has been certified by the attorney general, and DeMaio is gathering signatures, he said. DeMaio said it’s been easy to convince supporters to sign on.
“There’s real voter anger over what the politicians have done,” DeMaio said, adding he thought the poll actually understated opposition to the tax.
What happens if the opponents of the tax do succeed? The money is already being spent on projects throughout the state. If the funding is suddenly cut, then cities and towns will have to decide which projects they will now need to stop working on and which future projects they should defer, said MitchWeiss, the chief deputy director of the California Transportation Commission. The same is true for state projects, he said.
“We will have to look at where there is the greatest need,” he said, “and there are a lot of projects thatwon’t be able to go forward.”
Supporters of the gas tax say that’s not likely to happen — at least not without a hard fight. The tax was backed by a powerful coalition of labor, business and local government groups, which would likely rally in hopes of persuading voters more money for roads is a good idea. Once people understand there are safeguards in place tomake sure it’s being spent on roads, they’ll come around, said Sen. Jim Beall, D- San Jose, who sponsored the gas tax legislation.
“I think the gulf of opinion throughout the state will narrow as more people become informed of the facts,” he said. “If we don’t start maintaining our roads now, they will become worse and require more expensive repairs.’’