A new report says Arizona will collect less than a third of the money it needs in transportation taxes to meet the anticipated needs by 2035, including keeping the state's roads and bridges repaired.
The Auditor General's Office says the state will need about $89 billion in its 25-year plan to ensure "minimum acceptable conditions" for the state highway system. But at the collection rates, the agency will have just $26 billion.
The study suggests Arizona lawmakers form a task force to find ways to bridge the gap. Among options are higher gasoline taxes and finding new ways to raise additional dollars.
But gubernatorial press aide Daniel Scarpinato said such ideas will be dead on arrival if they reach the desk of Gov. Doug Ducey.
"I think we're open to the task force. I think the idea of looking closely at these issues is worthwhile. But the governor has been crystal clear that raising taxes is the worst thing you could do to people, particularly in this economy," said Scarpinato.
That does not bode well for a proposal by Sen. Bob Worsley to replace the gasoline tax with a sales tax. Worsley, who chairs the Senate Transportation Committee, noted the gas tax has been 18 cents a gallon since 1991 when fuel was $1.30 a gallon. A sales tax — Worsley calls it a use tax because it's paid by people who use the roads — would rise with the price of fuel.
"But the governor has said 'no new taxes' and so we've got to figure out what the right answer is that's something he can support," said Worsley.
Ducey's opposition aside, there's another political hurdle. Worsley said most voters live in Maricopa County where freeway conditions are good, at least in part because of locally raised sales taxes.
"When they drive here in Maricopa County they don't see the need," said Worsley. "And we've got to somehow sell people on the need and say, 'you can't look at these roads in Maricopa County.' That's not fair."
He said voters need to know there are legitimate needs, such as finishing the widening of I-10 south of Phoenix to three lanes each way.