ROI-NJ: GSI report – Gas Tax fails to deliver infrastructure improvements

By Emily Bader

As New Jersey reopens and residents return back to work, many more are on the roads utilizing their personal vehicles or public transportation to get to where they need to go.

However, Garden State Initiative on Tuesday said many of the state’s roads and bridges are in disrepair, and in turn, is asking leaders in Trenton what to expect from the Gas Tax and why residents should keep paying into it without better results?

“An examination of publicly available meeting minutes and financial data shows that the Murphy Administration has failed to fully utilize our Gas Tax funds to deliver infrastructure improvements,” Regina M. Egea, president of the Garden State Initiative, said.

“Gov. (Phil) Murphy should immediately suspend the 27.3 cents per gallon in Gas Taxes collected from motorists, and rule-out any further tax increase this summer.”

In February, GSI said, the Transportation Trust Fund Authority reported that the Department of Transportation and New Jersey Transit were running behind on their obligation to improve infrastructure in the state.

Egea said that until they prove to the public a plan to “catch up” on what’s already been funded, there’s no reason to continue collections, let alone ask for billions of more dollars to deposit into the state’s bank accounts.

“In the new reality of our COVID economy, motorists should be able to keep that money to pay their bills and provide essentials for their families,” she said.

Read the full report here.