Carson City Board of Supervisors vote to institute 5 cent diesel fuel tax through city ordinance
Submitted by Kelsey Penrose on Thu, 06/04/2020 - 10:52am
The Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 on Thursday to accept a new diesel tax in Carson City, with Supervisor Lori Bagwell voting against.
According to the agenda, Nevada Revised Statute (NRS) 373.062 to enact by ordinance a zero to five cent per gallon tax on the sale of diesel fuel within Carson City.
Bill No. 107 amends Title 21 of the Carson City Municipal Code by imposing the new tax, with the proceeds going to fixing the roads of Carson City.
The diesel fuel tax will go into effect on Aug. 1, 2020 with a sunset provision for the expiration of the tax on Dec. 31, 2022 unless the continuation of the diesel fuel tax is approved by the voters through a ballot question.
Carson City voters have historically not looked upon fuel taxes favorably. In 2016, residents voted down the only ballot question for Carson City during the election, which was a tax on gasoline.
The diesel tax was previously approved by the Board of Supervisors on Nov. 7 with the same 4-1 vote, with Bagwell voting against, and the Board directed City staff to pursue implementation of the tax by ordinance.
The ordinance was, Bill No. 107, was then introduced on May 21, 2020 and was implemented on second reading Thursday.
The Carson City Regional transportation Commission (RTC) voted 4-1 to recommend the diesel tax on Sept. 11, 2019.
The diesel tax will generate an additional $400,000 annually that will be used for roads.
However, according to Transportation Manager Lucia Maloney during the Nov. 7 meeting, $400,000 will barely make a dent in the budget.
"The disparity will not be fixed by this action," said Maloney during the meeting. "It costs approximately one million dollars to reconstruct one mile. $400,000 will reconstruct a couple of blocks."
Maloney suggested that instead, the money could be more meaningful if it was spent on road maintenance such as shoulder grading and crack filling.
It is unknown at this time how the breakdown for the tax revenue will be used towards the roads.
According to the staff report, which can be viewed in its entirety here, there is currently a federal, state and local gasoline tax which equals $0.5, and there is a federal and sate diesel tax which equals $0.5, but there is no tax on the local level.
However, the report states, counties with populations less than 100,000 currently receive no revenue from existing diesel taxes collected at the state and federal level.
Two percent of the local gasoline tax is retained by the state for “administration” prior to distribution to Carson City, according to the report.
According to the report, a portion of the new revenue collected will go to providing “much needed” paring for commercial trucks so that drivers can rest in safe and designated areas.
“Carson City’s annual budget for roads is approximately $4 million with an annual estimated funding deficit of $15 million,” the report states. “While the proceeds from this tax would not fill the full funding gap, it would represent a roughly 10% increase in the City’s funding for roads and would serve as a critical addition to the City's annual budgets.”
Supervisor John Barrett has consistently stayed adamant that the road conditions in Carson City are of utmost importance. At the Nov. 7 meeting, he said that the situation of the roads are so dire and woeful that the city should consider bonding instead of a sunset.
On Thursday he said, “I will always vote to help repair our roads.”
According to staff, commercial truck drivers are in favor of the diesel tax.
To learn more about the diesel tax, you can read our previous coverage here.
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