Utah lawmakers reformatted transportation funding in 2 significant ways:
- Utah raised the state gas tax to 12 percent
- Utah also bolstered the gas tax with an inflation-tied trigger for automatic increases
- The revised gas tax has a floor of 29.4 cents per gallon
- It has a ceiling of 40 cents per gallon.
- Local voters are limited to adding a 0.25 cent sales tax split between city and county transportation and transit needs.
An Arizona Senator said of Utah,
“In 22 states, and mostly red states, the legislatures raised gas taxes,” said Farley. “We need to do a whole lot for Arizona (transportation). The federal government is not going to get its act together.”