Will New Jersey Raise Its Gas Tax?

Steve Strunsky of NJ Advance Media writes two back-to-back articles for NJ.com on the per capita cost per year for motorists if a substantial gas tax hike was applied. He compares it to the annual cost if the gas tax remained at 14.5 cents*, ranked #50 [PDF] in the nation (includes the District of Columbia) as of July 1 by American Petroleum Institute (API).

To "raise an additional $1.6 billion a year for the [transportation] trust fund," writes Strunsky on Sept 28, the gas tax would need to be raised by 31-cents, resulting in an "estimated $200 annual cost...according to the state’s non-partisan Office of Legislative Services."

Assemblyman Scott Rumana, the ranking Republican on the state transportation committee, said he invoked the 31-cent figure during [the Sept. 24] hearing as a high-end benchmark for discussion purposes only, and he made it clear he was not advocating such a big increase.

While that may sound substantial, the cost of doing nothing is three times as much, "mostly to replace cracked rims or repair damaged suspensions," writes Strunsky on Sept. 29. That doesn't include costs of personal injuries (or deaths) where degraded road conditions contributed to crashes.

A 31-cent state gas tax hike would give the state a 45.50 cent tax, a nickel less than neighbor New York's, and the fifth highest in the nation, per API [PDF].

We last wrote in Dec., 2009 about an attempt to increase the NJ gas tax when it was the fourth lowest in the nation. That attempt was quashed by Gov. Chris Christie, though NorthJersey.com noted he had the public's backing:

The public, however, remains largely opposed to raising the gas tax. A poll released Tuesday by Connecticut-based Quinnipiac University found 62 percent of those surveyed oppose increasing the gas tax to pay for road and transit improvements in New Jersey.