A Republican county commissioner furious over increased auto-registration fees said he's willing to campaign alongside the Democratic governor for a 10-cents-a-gallon gasoline tax hike instead.
Commissioner Jim Bensberg of El Paso County got out his calculator after he discovered the registration for his 1978 El Camino increased 116 percent because of a state law that went into effect July 1. He calculated he would pay less with a gas-tax increase, and it would be more fair, too, because tourists would pay to improve Colorado's roads.
Politicians in both parties have questioned whether voters would approve a gas-tax hike, but Bensberg said it's time to find out.
"Colorado taxpayers should be given an opportunity to vote on a proposed gas-tax increase instead of bearing a compulsory across-the-board fee increase," he said.
Bensberg, who is term-limited next year, added that a "modest" increase to the existing 22-cents-a-gallon tax would provide an incentive for Coloradans to use more fuel-efficient vehicles. But a 10-cents-a-gallon hike would make Colorado's gas tax the highest in the Rocky Mountain region. Utah's gas tax is 24.5 cents, New Mexico's is 18.8 cents and Wyoming's is 14 cents, according to industry data.
Gov. Bill Ritter pointed out this week that the legislature used to increase the gas tax and last did so in 1991. The following year, voters approved the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights, requiring a vote of the people for any tax increase.
Although transportation needs have grown, Ritter said no governor since then has asked voters to increase the tax, in part because of the expense of pushing a ballot measure that many predict would go down.
Bensberg said he would be "pleased to join the governor" in pushing for the gas-tax increase - including one less than 10 cents a gallon - to replace the registration increase.
Ritter declined Bensberg's offer.
We're sorry to see that Ritter declined Bensber's offer, because - as we've said here for a long time - Colorado desperately needs more revenue after mindless years of cutting taxes and spending to the point where services are flat-out dying off. Like in El Paso County, for example, where selling parks and foregoing health inspections are just the tip of the melting iceberg.
Nobody likes raising taxes, and nobody likes paying them, but we're kind of running out of options here. Somebody needs to start showing some leadership in standing up to the voters to explain why we need a tax increase.
