From the Fort Wayne News-Sentinel:
When you’re facing $65 million in overdue street work, an extra million dollars or two may not seem like much – but every little bit helps.
That’s why increases in transportation funding, and changes in how the state allocates it, are at the top of Fort Wayne’s wish list as state lawmakers prepare to convene for the Indiana General Assembly’s 2013 session.
Even as the city’s to-do list of unfunded street projects has grown longer, the main source of local transportation funds – the state gasoline tax – has started to dry up, said Brent Wake, the legislative liaison for Mayor Tom Henry’s office.
From 2000 to 2011, Fort Wayne’s gas tax revenue fell from $17 million to $7 million, according to figures provided by the city.
“Since the mayor’s been in office, we’ve seen a big decrease to gas tax revenue, and there are multiple ways to address that,” Wake said.
So the city is lobbying state lawmakers to make two specific changes. First, the state ought to increase the gas tax rate – currently 18 cents to the dollar – to keep up with inflation, Wake said.
Second, the state could take $144 million that goes to the Indiana State Police and Bureau of Motor Vehicles each year and instead distribute it to local governments through the Motor Vehicle Highway (MVH) and Local Road and Street (LRS) funds, he said.
The proposals mirror items on Allen County’s agenda for the 2013 session.
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Additionally, the chairman of the state Senate Appropriations Committee, Sen. Luke Kenley, R-Noblesville, has mentioned an idea that would put revenue from license plate fees toward local transportation funding, Kennedy said.
City officials said they did not know exactly how much money the proposals would free up. More details would become available once an actual bill is drafted and the state’s nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency puts out a fiscal impact report on the proposals.
State Rep. Edward Clere, R-New Albany, is expected to author a bill on gasoline tax funding, Wake said. The Indiana House and Senate will reconvene Jan. 7.
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Among legislation Fort Wayne officials would oppose: Any attempt to repeal the state’s personal property tax, which is assessed on equipment owned by businesses.
According to a study by the pro-business Regional Chamber of Northeast Indiana, a repeal of the tax could cost Fort Wayne city government about $10 million in annual revenue at a time when the city already faces growing budget shortfalls.
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