Cost to consumers between $40 and $80 per year
Ohio drivers will pay an additional 10.5 cents per gallon in gasoline taxes effective July 1. (EXAMINER PHOTO | NATE SMITH)
An increase in Ohio’s gasoline tax will mean an estimated $1.5 million in additional revenues to Logan County municipalities when the increased fee takes effect July 1.
The increase is estimated to generate an additional $297,351 per year for road maintenance in the city of Bellefontaine, projections indicate. Townships will see another approximately $57,000 toward roads and bridge maintenance.
Increases to county village street maintenance coffers range between $5,600 and $40,000, depending on the size of the village.
Estimates provided by the Ohio Department of Transportation estimate that Ohio’s 88 counties will evenly split about $3.9 million in funding for local roads and bridges for the next state fiscal year.
Beginning July 1, motorists will pay a 28.5 cent tax per gallon for regular gasoline. The tax on diesel will total 47 cents. The 10.5-, and 19-cent increase on gas and diesel, respectively, means an additional $865 million per year in new money for ODOT to utilize toward failing roads and bridges across the state.
Of that $865 million estimate, $535 million comes from increased gas revenues, and about $330 million is derived from higher diesel fuel taxes.
The state of Ohio will keep 55 percent of the funds, and the remaining 45 percent will be allocated to local governments.
As for the cost of the tax hike to drivers, estimates project that a driver operating a vehicle that gets 30 miles-per-gallon over 15,000 miles per year will pay about an extra $45 annually.
At just 20 miles-per-gallon, a driver traversing 15,000 miles will pay an additional $79 per year.
The Logan County Engineer’s Office supports the gas tax, citing the need for ongoing maintenance of local roads.
There is also additional costs built into the legislation for drivers of hybrid vehicles.
Owners of plug-in hybrid vehicles or electric cats will pay an extra $200 per year in license plate renewals. For owners of hybrids that do not plug in, that additional license fee is $100, plus the cost of the increased gasoline tax.
Ohio motor fuel taxes had been 28 cents for both gas and diesel since 2005, and were among the lowest fuel taxes in the country prior to this latest increase.