Fuel tax to add $700,000 to county roads budget
Iowa motorists saw the impact of a 10-cent per gallon increase in the fuel tax on Sunday. An increase in the fuel tax, debated by Iowa legislators for years, was passed last Tuesday as part of Senate file 257, and signed into law by Gov Terry Branstad Wednesday. The 10-cent increase was effective Sunday, March 1. The increase in revenue is earmarked for road repair and improvements across Iowa.
Greene County engineer Wade Weiss reminded the county supervisors Monday of figures he had provided in January. The increase will mean an additional $550,000 in state funds for maintenance of Greene County roads, and an additional $150,000 for construction projects. The new construction money will bring the construction budget to $900,000, according to Weiss.
“I think this is going to help. $150,000 in construction over our entire system isn’t a whole lot of money, but it will help,” Weiss said.
The county will start to see the additional funding as soon as April, he said. The amount will fluctuate each month, depending on how much fuel is purchased. The county usually receives more state road funds in July, August, and September, as that’s when the state pays Time 21 funds, which are derived from vehicle and trailer registration fees and title fees.
The 10-cent increase brings the state-levied fuel tax to about 31 cents per gallon.
