New Pennsylvania Transportation Plan Changes Fuel Tax Structure

Replacing the 12 cents-a-gallon liquid fuels tax with a wholesale fuel tax leaves significant questions about how much fuel will cost

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett signed legislation passed by state lawmakers on Thursday providing $2.3 billion over five years for transportation. It's about a 40% hike, but it’s leaving some important questions unanswered.

One has to do with how much of a fuel-tax increase there will be.

The measure eliminates the 12 cents-a-gallon liquid fuels tax, replacing it with a fuel tax at the wholesale level.

PennDOT Secretary Barry Schoch says it does not include an immediate increase of 28 cents per gallon, as has been reported by some news outlets. He says such an estimate is based on the wholesale price of fuel in 2018 and it is not possible to predict the price per gallon five years from now.

Gov. Corbett has publicly said fuel taxes will rise, but how much depends on how much of the wholesale tax increase oil companies pass along to consumers.

Others claim the legislation will leave the Keystone state with the highest fuel taxes in the nation.

(more on Pennsylvania's new fuel tax . . . )

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