State weighs options on fuel, sales taxes

While Missouri's governor and legislature have avoided tax increases to pay for the difference between anticipated revenue and expenses for the coming fiscal year, bumps in both the state fuel tax and the state sales tax have been discussed to generate revenue for transportation.

One plan calls for a 6-cent increase in the fuel tax and a 3/8-cent increase in the sales tax. Another plan wouldn't touch the fuel tax but would increase the sales tax a full 1 cent.

The anticipated revenue from either plan would be about half of the extra funding the Missouri Department of Transportation says it needs to pay for all the projects that need to be done. It appears that most legislators are convinced that there truly is a need for more money for highways. For most taxpayers, an increased fuel tax probably seems fair. But some legislators worry that a 6-cent-a-gallon increase would be tough on motorists who have seen gasoline prices jump.

Missouri has a comparatively low fuel tax. And any tax is tough to increase. But if taxes must be raised to maintain and build highways, it should come from the beneficiaries of those improvements.