Question 1: Should the percentage tax on gas be adjusted annually, or remain at 24 cents per gallon.
- Yes: Repeals the gas laws enacted in 2013 that links gas and inflation. It puts a minimum cap on gas taxes to prevent gas tax from decreases in the case of inflation. Eliminates the requirement that the state’s gas tax be adjusted annually based on the Consumer Price Index. The link between the two causes an increase in taxes every single year without the vote of the Legislature. Proponents of the repeal claim that the state has a spending problem not a revenue problem. Not to mention that one of the major reasons the gas tax is adjusted annually is to allow for in-state bridge and road repair. However in previous gas tax increases the money was not used to repair roads and bridges. Also the simplest way of looking at this problem is we already pay high gas taxes, the average 15 gallon fill-up costs you $6.73 in taxes, so why are we letting this continue?
No: Makes no change in laws regarding the gas tax. The big argument is that many of the roads and bridges in Massachusetts are unstable. Without the consistent taxing on gasoline according to the Consumer Price Index we would not be able to repair these roads and bridges. 27 Bridges in Massachusetts have been closed due to instability, and repairing potholes is a 2.3 billion dollar industry in Massachusetts alone! We can not afford to get behind and not be able to fix the roads and bridges. The cost to repair is only going to pile up and we can barely keep up with it as it is so why would we decrease the money given to the government to spend on such projects?