A Hailstorm of Tax Hikes Heading for Wyoming

The Wyoming Tribune Eagle reports (Wednesday June 13):

An increase in the state's fuel tax is on the table. Toll roads are not. On Tuesday a state legislative supercommittee reviewed ways to raise money for Wyoming highways. The group will develop a draft bill for state lawmakers to consider in 2013. The draft bill will include a proposal for a higher gasoline tax, based on the committee's direction. The amount has not been determined. It will also include increases in motor vehicle registration and driver license and services fees. It will apply a sales tax to fuel, too.

A higher gasoline tax is nothing new. In October 2010 the Transportation Committee sponsored a bill that would phase in a ten-cent increase over three years. The idea was to take the state gasoline tax to 24 cents per gallon. Conservative estimates showed that the higher tax would cost drivers $35 million extra per year, though some estimates suggested higher numbers. Add to this that the 2012 legislative session authorized counties to seek voter approval for a one-cent increase in sales taxes. Furthermore, some legislators have speculated about a one-cent increase in the state sales tax. These days, whenever our legislators talk about our economy, their conversation centers in on tax increases. This is not good, especially if we add the risk of spending cuts up to $75 million. Spending cuts are good when coupled with tax cuts. But when they are coupled with higher taxes, the result is increased government drainage of resources from the economy. We pay more in taxes and get even less back than we normally do. The total effect of just the proposed spending cuts is frankly disturbing. A simulation of all the proposed tax increases combined, using a so called CGE macroeconomic model of the Wyoming economy, gives a rather disturbing picture of what lies ahead. The following numbers are for 2015 and compare to a scenario without any tax increases:

• There will be 6,800 fewer private-sector jobs;
• Private corporate investments will be $110 million lower;
• Wyoming families will have $458 million less in disposable income;
• Local governments will see a net loss of $28 million in tax revenue.

Depending on what type of spending cuts would be added to this, the net effect can be considerably worse. There is no doubt that Wyoming needs better roads. However, massive tax increases is not the way to pay for them. A much better approach is to build closer ties between road usage and the cost of that usage. A gasoline tax is an imprecise instrument in this respect: the gasoline tax affects all drivers, even those who do mostly local driving. At the same time, interstate drivers are increasingly able to get through the state without paying anything for using our highways. More and more passenger cars can, e.g., travel the entire stretch of the I-80 through Wyoming without filling up even once, leaving Wyoming drivers with the entire bill for road maintenance. The tax hikes currently being discussed will actually increase the incentives of out-of-state drivers to avoid a gas fill-up within our borders. This makes it even more surprising that our legislators are entirely unwilling to consider a tolling system, let alone cost reductions. By talking tax increases and generic spending cuts, our elected officials are showing us that they are stuck in the same old conventional thinking about government's role in the economy. Rather than trying to squeeze a fiscally obese government into an economy that is already too small to fit it, our lawmakers should reconsider what role government should actually play in our economy. A smaller, leaner government with fewer spending programs is more able to focus on such things as maintenance of our highways - and the net burden on taxpayers would go down in the bargain. To get to a smaller government, we need well defined, thoughtfully executed structural reforms to tax-funded entitlement programs. That takes time, but the enormous reduction of government that comes as a result will make it worth the while. Wyoming Liberty Group