Gas Tax

We have more roads and more cars since the gas tax was last raised 20 years ago when cars were getting 15 to 20 miles per gallon but now are getting 30 to 40. Thus, more cars, more roads, and only half the tax coming in. And what revenue is coming in is worth less than what the same 23 cents was worth 20 years ago because of inflation. Although it's popular to be against taxes, an educated public understands that we need government to provide for the common good. And that includes good roads.

Regarding The Sun's and state Sen. Rob Garagiola's insistence on raising the gas tax, perhaps they do not understand the double tax whammy they are proposing. First, the tax will impact the citizens of Maryland when they purchase gas by increasing the price of a tank of gas at least $1.50. The second way the tax will harm Marylanders is by increasing the prices of goods and services. For example, the tax will increase the price of food for all citizens rich or poor. With unemployment rates in Baltimore City of 11.2 percent, The Sun should not suggest that the government-created transportation jobs will solve that problem.

My family and I moved to Maryland in 1996 and witnessed some of the lowest tax (and car insurance) rates ever. However, we did find the gasoline tax much higher than we'd experienced, but the roads were exquisite (and I'm not kidding). That's because we came from New Jersey. You have to have lived in the Garden State to understand why we are totally in favor of Gov.Martin O'Malley's proposed gas tax increase. Roads in New Jersey are still in the shape as we left them 16 years ago - horrid everywhere.

Gov.Martin O'Malleyproposes adding a 6 percent additional tax onto the cost of gasoline, to the detriment of Maryland taxpayers' wallets. If the Minority and Women's Business Enterprise requirements were waived from highway contracts, the cost of construction would decrease by at least 6 percent. There would be no reason to increase taxes since the costs of the compliance would be lifted and economies of scale could return. Henry Meier, Baltimore

Letter writer William Smith, who calls opponents of the proposed gas tax increase "whiners," had better take a look at how our taxes never seem to be used for the purposes they are assessed ("Gas tax brings out whiners," Oct. 19). If he thought about it, he might change his mind. Government waste is a bigger issue. I agree that our roads are in terrible condition. But how come jurisdictions such as Baltimore County spend money on "traffic calming" projects - islands and speed humps in the middle of two-lane residential streets - instead of repairing or paving those streets?

The proposal by Gov. Martin O'Malleyto apply Maryland's state sales tax to gasoline should be welcomed in Annapolis and throughout the state as a step toward fiscal responsibility ("O'Malley seeks sales tax on gas," Jan. 31). Regardless of whether it is sound policy, the mantra that public expenditures should pay for themselves rings loudly inside legislatures throughout the country, and few expenditures are more heavily subsidized than those comprising our automotive infrastructure.

In reply to Misty Sexton's letter that businesses can't afford the increase in gas tax ( "Consumers can afford a 10-cent gas tax increase, but many businesses can't," March 17). The idea of the 10-cents-a-gallon increase is to fix roads, bridges, etc., that need repair. If "Company B" uses 45,000 gallons of diesel a week, obviously they are doing more damage to our roads and bridges than I am using 10 gallons a week. So who should pay more? They are already paying 10 times as much as the 10 cents tax increase because gas already went up a dollar over the last few months.

It is not surprising that people such as Prince George's County Executive Rushern L. Baker III are calling again for an increase in the gas tax ("Calls for new road and transit funding," Dec. 13). Look around at all the other transportation projects that no one except the politicians wanted: the Intercounty Connector (billions of dollars), the Interstate 95 express toll lanes (billions more), the construction at I-95 and Route 24 (millions on top of that). It goes on and on. The politicians seem to think taxpayers are an endless supply of funds, yet if you look at what they are doing at White Marsh Boulevard and have done at Route 24, they've put in more traffic signals which will cause us to waste more gas. It is ridiculous, and I am hoping the taxpayers recognize the politicians seem to no longer have the taxpayers' best interests in mind but some other interests.

Hundreds of millions of dollars have been taken out of Maryland's transportation trust fund over the years. In fact, once again this year hundreds of millions of dollars have again been taken out of this and other trust funds and placed into the state's general fund. It is like taking money from your right pocket and putting it into your left pocket because the left pocket was running out of money. And yes, gas stations will always have customers even if the price at one gas station was a little bit more.

Conservatives sure like to whine about everything all the time like a bunch of overgrown babies, but I really had to laugh at the recent letter from Al Eisner ("Maryland's proposed gas tax increase is a travesty," Oct. 17). I mean, c'mon, a measly 15-cent gas tax? Last time I checked at the pump, gas has fallen about 50 cents in the past few months. Adjusting for inflation, the price of gas is now cheaper than it was when I started driving 30 years ago. And look at the lousy condition of the roads.