Washington state's gas tax will now rise every year automatically
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Washington's gas tax rose by 2% this month — and you can expect the same increase next year and every year after.
Why it matters: The Legislature's choice to automatically raise the gas tax yearly is designed to help keep up with rising costs of highway projects. But it also helps lawmakers avoid future votes on potentially unpopular gas tax hikes.
Catch up quick: Washington lawmakers passed a transportation package last year raising the state's gas tax by 6 cents per gallon. The plan included a new inflationary adjustment that automatically increases the tax by 2% a year.
- The automatic increase took effect for the first time July 1, raising the tax from 55.4 cents to 56.5 cents per gallon.
What they're saying: Washington's transportation budget is struggling due to spikes in construction costs, along with a decline in gas tax revenue as vehicles become more fuel efficient, state Sen. Marko Liias (D-Edmonds) said during a Senate floor debate last year.
- Liias, who chairs the Senate Transportation Committee, cited a 70% increase in heavy construction costs between 2020 and 2024, which he said equaled the previous 17 years of inflation.
- "There was no way for us to predict that the pandemic would have such disruptive impacts on our ability to construct projects," Liias said when urging his colleagues to pass the tax plan last year.
The other side: Several Republicans opposed the automatic increases last year, saying lawmakers should have to vote each time they want to raise the gas tax, as they've done in the past.
- That kind of public debate gives residents the chance to weigh in, and forces elected leaders to "make the case, make the argument each time they wish to raise this," state Rep. Ed Orcutt (R-Kalama) said during a committee discussion last year.
- Orcutt proposed stripping the automatic inflator from the state's transportation package last year, but his amendment failed.
Between the lines: State Rep. Jake Fey (D-Tacoma), who chairs the House Transportation Committee, told Axios that annual adjustments are partly intended to avoid the need for another large gas tax increase years down the road.
- He described those votes as "extremely hard," noting that Washington already has one of the nation's highest gas taxes.
Case in point: Before last year's increase, Washington lawmakers last voted to raise the gas tax in 2015, when they approved a 11.9-cent hike.
- "It took 10 years before people got to a position where they would pass a gas tax increase," Fey told Axios.
- "And in those 10 years, you're just falling further behind."
Yes, but: The automatic increases aren't expected to fully close the state's transportation funding gap.
- A report released last month projected transportation revenue would come in below earlier forecasts.
What's next: Next year's 2% increase will raise the state's gas tax to 57.6 cents per gallon.
- By 2030, the tax is set to rise to 61.2 cents per gallon — all without the Legislature voting again to raise it.