Loading ...No State Relief at the Pump
Although the late Governor Frank O’Bannon suspended the state’s sales tax on gasoline back in 2000 to provide Hoosiers with temporary relief from high gas prices, current Governor Mitch Daniels says he doesn’t plan to do the same.
With gas prices hitting $3 per gallon in some places, many residents are feeling the pain at the pump.
Daniels told reporters this afternoon that suspending the sales tax on gasoline would hurt Indiana’s efforts to emerge from bankruptcy and balance its budget. He also says any relief would not be meaningful.
Current Indiana collects 16 cents on the price of every gallon of gasoline sold as well slightly more than 6 percent on the sale as well.
May 2nd, 2006 at 1:37 pm
If anything, Daniels should increase gas taxes and use the proceeds to build light rail to Indy’s surrounding counties, in addition to increasing bus services.
If something isn’t done now to prepare for increasingly higher fuel prices, the Indianapolis area will stagnate and die when fuel becomes too costly or rare to bring the average commuter to work. Just draw a line around I465 and send spokes out from downtown to each of the major commuting centers.
A 50 cent/gal tax will easily pay for that over the next several years. You can only reap what you sow. I’d rather pay more for gas now, knowing that an efficient system is being built, than to continue paying higher prices with no solution in sight.