Wyoming poll: Raise beer tax, not fuel tax

The Associated Press

1/29/2008

CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Wyoming residents strongly oppose increasing the state tax at the fuel pump, but most are OK with higher taxes on beer, according to a new poll.

The poll commissioned by the Casper Star-Tribune shows 84 percent of respondents oppose hiking the state tax on gasoline and diesel by 10 cents per gallon over the next three years.

On a second tax question, 58 percent of Wyoming voters support a 4.5 cent-per-liter increase in the tax on beer, with the tax revenue on all alcoholic beverages to be spent on substance abuse treatment and prevention.

The poll of 625 registered voters was conducted Jan. 18-2 by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research of Washington, D.C. The margin of error is plus or minus 4 percentage points.

Sen. Michael Von Flatern, R-Gillette, co-chairman of the legislative committee that is sponsoring a fuel tax bill, said he has been speaking to various civic organizations in the state to gin up support for the higher fuel tax. The bill would mean $47 million of new money for the Wyoming Department of Transportation.

"It's an educational thing," Von Flatern said Monday.

Nonresidents pay 52 percent of the state fuel tax, and the cost of road construction increased by 111 percent in the last 10 years, he said.

Von Flatern mentioned road projects, such as state highway 220 from Casper to Rawlins, state highway 59 from Gillette to Douglas, and U.S. 191 between Rock Springs and Pinedale, that will or will not happen depending on whether money is available.

Rep. Doug Samuelson, R-Cheyenne, said he would have difficulty supporting the gas tax hike because of the current high price of fuel.

Although the phase-in makes the fuel tax increase more palatable, Samuelson, who is not running for re-election this year, predicted it "will never pass."

Samuelson said he could support an increase in the beer tax.

A bill sponsored by the Legislature's Select Committee on Mental Health and Substance Abuse would boost the tax from half a cent per liter to 5 cents per liter. It would also direct alcohol tax revenue — $14.5 million a year, including the increase in the beer tax — to a new substance abuse account.

Rep. Mark Semlek, R-Moorcroft, said the beer tax increase "will never sell."

As for the fuel tax increase, Semlek said he was surprised at the overwhelming opposition. Citizens, he said, are aware the state is not facing fiscal restraints.

Moreover, he said, the Legislature allocated $175 million in state General Fund money to WYDOT in this biennium, an increase of $75 million.

Except for heavy truck traffic on the interstate system, the state's roads are not in bad shape, Semlek said.

"It's not like we're driving from pothole to pothole," he added.

Because both tax bills are non-budget measures, they will require a two-thirds majority vote to be considered by the House or Senate in the budget session that opens Feb. 11.