Tolls vs. Taxes

None by KCPW

State Lawmaker Proposes $500 million Tax Hike for Roads

(KCPW News) Now that Salt Lake County voters have approved a quarter-cent sales tax increase to pay for public transit and road projects, perhaps they'd be willing to go further? State Senator Ed Mayne is proposing another sales tax hike of a full penny:

"A cent would generate a half a billion dollars a year, which would then also enhance our ability to bond and do other things," says Mayne.

Primarily, Mayne says he's opposed to charging a toll on the Mountain View Corridor, or any other road. UDOT estimates it will need 16 and a half billion dollars to meet the state's road needs in the next 25 years. To accelerate the Mountain View Corridor, UDOT is investigating the toll option - but has determined it will also require significant tax dollars to build the road. Mayne says his West Side constituents shouldn't be stuck with the bill:

"Number one, there's a fairness issue," says Mayne. "How can you ask these people to fund and continue to fund other transportation projects around the state that we're desperately in need of and yet they're the ones who get a toll road."

UDOT is currently conducting an environmental impact study of the proposed Mountain View Corridor. The Transportation Commission is expected to make a decision on the tolling issue before the Legislature convenes in January.

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