New Hampshire Increases Gas Tax to Fund Highway, Road, and Bridge Projects

"A bill aimed at paying for major transportation projects through a 4.2-cent increase in the gas tax passed the House yesterday and will now go to Gov. Maggie Hassan’s desk," reports Kathleen Ronayne. Governor Hassan has already stated her intention to sign the law.

"On July 1, this bill will increase the gas tax from 18 to 22.2 cents, the first increase since 1991. The roughly $32 million in new annual revenue from the increase will be dedicated to state and local road and bridge repairs. The bill also removes the toll at Exit 12 in Merrimack on the Everett Turnpike and creates a commission to study whether the state Department of Transportation is operating efficiently…"

As for how the money raised will be split among the state's transportation infrastructure investments: "The bill sends 42 percent of the new revenue toward bonding for the widening of Interstate 93 from Salem to Manchester, Campbell said. Of the rest of the new money, 33 percent will go to municipalities for local road and bridge repairs, and 25 percent will go to repairs of secondary state roads in fiscal years 2015 and 2016. Under the bill, the 4-cent increase will be repealed in 20 years, or when bonding for the I-93 project is paid off."

An earlier bill, which failed in May 2013, would have raised the gas tax by 12 cents over three years.

*Updates 6-27-14: The introduction to this post has been corrected to reflect the gas tax increase in cents, not percent as originally stated.