The Habersham Chamber of Commerce hosted their annual Post-Legislative Breakfast on Thursday at The Torch Worship Center in Demorest. Habersham’s legislative delegation – Rep. Terry Rogers, Rep. Dan Gasaway and Sen. John Wilkinson – addressed about 30 business leaders about the just concluded 2015 session. Most of the conversation had to do with a big change to the way the state taxes gasoline.
Each legislator said it was a difficult time under the gold dome. Gassaway described it like a Clint Eastwood movie, “We had the good, the bad and the ugly.” Rogers called it a “long, tough and grueling session.”
One of the most difficult tasks lawmakers faced was coming up with a new funding formula for transportation. The state needs more than $1 billion a year just to maintain our current road system. To raise the money, legislators came up with House Bill 170 it replaces the mix of sales and excise tax on gasoline with a flat 26 cent excise tax. They also added a $5 per night tax on hotels and motels and a $200 dollar tax on folks who drive electric cars. In total it brings in about $900 million more in state funding.
Rogers, Gasaway and Wilkinson all voted in favor of the plan and defended it on Thursday.
“This change to an excise tax is a very positive thing for our state,” says Gasaway. He points out that the new system removes the uncertainty of fluctuating sales tax revenue, which would rise or fall with the per gallon price. With the new excise tax, the state can better estimate future revenue.
Rep. Rogers says they had to act because lawmakers in previous years failed to do so, “This can has been kicked down the road for the past 20-25 years.”
Wilkinson agrees and says the need will continue to grow, “One of the reasons we had to do something about transportation is that our state is the fourth fastest growing in the United States.”
Rogers points out that the state’s transportation needs can be seen here in Habersham County, “From a local standpoint we’ve got kids in school buses going across bridges that are 50 years old.” He also says the massive repaving planned for downtown Cornelia was put on hold by the Department of Transportation this year until House Bill 170 passed and new funding was secured. The project is now moving forward again with work slated to begin this summer.
Gasaway says some of the criticism aimed at the bill, mainly that it is a big tax increase, is actually a matter of perspective because the tax is no longer pegged to the price. “It depends on the price of gas today whether we raised taxes or cut taxes. I think around $2.90 a gallon is the magic number. If gas is above $2.90, we cut taxes. If it’s below $2.90 we raised taxes.”
House Bill 170 is still awaiting the signature of Governor Nathan Deal. He has indicated that he will sign it.
