Michigan House Speaker Lee Chatfield (R-Levering) and other state representatives want to fund road improvements without raising taxes. Their solution is to allocate current sales taxes on fuel toward repairing roads, according to James M. Hohman of The Mackinac Center for Public Policy.
They say the best way to spend the money people pay for gas would be to improve the roads. Deterrents say this hurts the public education system, which currently receives most of the sales tax revenue.
There is a tax per gallon levy on fuel that goes to the transportation budget. The sales tax is divided for a few purposes: 15% for local government, 73% for local schools and the rest for lawmakers to use on their priorities with no other restrictions.
According to the National Council of State Legislatures, Michigan is one of the only states that uses sales tax on fuel for things other than transportation. Sales tax can be repurposed without detracting from the education budget, according to Mr. Hohman of The Mackinac Center.
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