Feb 27, 2008 11:01 pm US/Central
Reality Check: Minnesota's Transportation Taxes
(WCCO)
It's among the most frequent questions asked of Reality Check: Why is Minnesota raising the gas tax after it recently passed a constitutional amendment raising money to fix our roads?
The $3.5 million ad campaign told Minnesotans that a 'yes' vote on the amendment was a vote to fix deteriorating roads and transit systems, and that would be done without a tax hike.
Here's what the 2006 Minnesota Transportation Alliance TV ad said:
"So doesn't it make sense to dedicate the sales tax we currently pay on cars and trucks, to improve roads and transit all across Minnesota? That will provide $300 million a year without raising taxes."
IN FACT...
It might have seemed like a no-tax-hike promise, but that's not what it was. It actually takes the sales tax money consumers pay on motor vehicles, and spends it only on roads and transit.
That's important because until now half of the motor vehicle sales tax money could be spent on anything the legislature wanted.
But that's NOT THE WHOLE STORY.
Passing the amendment meant $300 million extra for roads and transit, but it's still not enough.
The Minnesota Department of Transportation estimates it has $8.3 billion in projects it needs to do and only $1.2 billion to pay for it.
So here's the tough new REALITY for Minnesota drivers.
There's been a war at the Capitol over how to pay for all of this. That's why Democrats, with the help of a few Republicans, muscled through that gas tax hike overriding the governor's veto.
That's Reality Check.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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