‘Every cent adds up’ for those affected by tax increase

The digital screen on the gas pump hit $50 and kept climbing as Frank Phillips filled his 26-gallon box truck before heading out for another busy day of plumbing repair jobs.

“Every cent adds up,” Phillips said about the prospect of raising the state fuel tax by 6 cents per gallon. “They should tax the guy that’s making all the money, but that’s not me.”

Walking back to her car, Claire Franke lit the end of a cigarette, the first from a new pack she just purchased.

“I don’t know why I have to pay more,” she said when asked about a proposal to increase the cigarette tax by $1.50 per pack.

At this bustling7-Eleven convenience store in west Oklahoma City, which was a hub of working class commuters on a recent weekday morning, two of the biggest purchases — fuel and cigarettes — are the target of a tax increase seeking to partially fill an $878 million state budget hole.

The fuel and cigarette tax increase proposals stalled last week amid

stalled last week amid partisan gridlock. Oklahoma House Republican leaders have said the hikes will raise $340.1 million, but Democrats have objected.

“We’ve said all along the solution for what ails the state of Oklahoma is to restore those gross production tax cuts,” said Democratic Leader Scott Inman, D-Del City, about his party’s desire to tax oil and gas companies as part of any tax increase this year.

Without Democratic support, any attempt to raise taxes would be unsuccessful due to the Legislature’s high voting bar.

The political stalemate this week resulted in Gov. Mary Fallin scolding both sides and urging the Legislature to bring her a budget that doesn’t cut core services.

“We can’t be playing games with locking up different groups. We’ve got to show courage and we must lead to fix the problems facing our state,” Fallin said at a news conference.

Several customers flowing through the Oklahoma City 7-Eleven said they were unaware of the budget fight taking place at the Capitol and knew little about the tax increase proposals.

Phillips, who drives from Guthrie to Oklahoma City each day for work, figured a 6-centper-gallon tax increase on gasoline would cost him an extra $35 a year, based on the 50-mile round trip commute from home and back.

“That adds up to a lot over the years,” he said.

Democrats have framed the tax debate as between the working class and big corporations. The state’s largest oil and gas producers have fought back against increasing Oklahoma’s gross production taxes, which are currently some of the lowest in the nation.

It cost Robert Dennis $80.51 to fill up his work truck Friday morning, and he said a fuel tax would hurt. But he figured a tax on oil and gas production would have an impact, also.

“It’s still going to trickle down to us,” Dennis said. “We are going to pay one way or another.”

While a tax increase at any level could have a trickle-down effect, opponents of the fuel and cigarette tax view it as regressive, meaning it hits lower income residents harder.

An extra $35 in fuel taxes a year for a person making $30,000 is felt more than by a person making $100,000.

But as ideological and political differences hold up the tax increase proposals, the Legislature faces a May 26 deadline to pass a budget that will need hundreds of millions of dollars in new revenue to avoid severe cuts to education, public safety and health care.

“This week that’s been the big frustration,” said Rep. Leslie Osborn, R-Mustang, who is also chair of the House appropriations and budget committee and authored the tax increase bills. “My argument all along is that this is just the first step. We are going to regroup and try a different step ... next week.”

Back at the 7-Eleven, Franke said she’s heard some news about the budget problems and the partisan divide. But she didn’t have an opinion on which side was right.

“I feel like I didn’t make this mess,” Franke said before heading to her job as a cashier. “But I’m going to pay for it, aren’t I?”