It remains unclear how Wyoming will address a $400 million annual shortfall in the state’s highway funding after lawmakers rejected a bill Monday to raise the fuel tax.
Since Wyoming last increased its fuel tax in 2013, revenue for the Wyoming Department of Transportation has lagged and construction costs associated with maintaining the state’s expansive road system have risen. The agency is responsible for roughly 6,700 miles of roads and more than 1,900 bridges, which are exposed to Wyoming’s harsh and lengthy winters.
Lawmakers, meanwhile, have failed to come up with a solution.
“To try to figure out where we’re going to find funding to put towards our roads, it’s a very difficult thing since we don’t like tolling. We don’t like [a] road usage charge. We don’t like all these other mechanisms that would raise a lot of money,” Joint Transportation, Highways and Military Affairs Committee Co-Chairman Sen. Stephan Pappas, R-Cheyenne, said at the meeting Monday.
One of the committee’s top priorities during the Legislature’s off-season, also known as the interim, included studying how WYDOT is funded and exploring solutions to reduce the department’s budget shortfall.
As such, the committee formed a working group in May and crafted legislation to incrementally hike Wyoming’s fuel taxes, which are the primary funding source for the state’s roads.
More specifically, the bill would have first increased the state’s taxation rate on gasoline, diesel and alternative fuels from 24 cents to 29 cents per gallon starting in July. In June 2028, another five-cent increase would have gone into effect. The bill also increased certain fees for snowmobiles, motorboats and off-road vehicles.
Registration and user fees for snowmobiles would have increased from $28.75 to $35 in July, and then to $41.25 in June 2028. Motorboats using Wyoming waters are required to display an aquatic invasive species decal, whose cost would have increased for nonresident boaters. User registration fees for off-road vehicles would have risen from $18.40 to $22.40 and then $26.40 over the same period.
Several groups spoke in favor of the legislation at Monday’s meeting in Cheyenne, including the Wind River Intertribal Council’s Department of Transportation and the Associated Contractors of Wyoming.
“Driving down today, it was raining and snowing, and [I] was thinking of today’s meeting and just noticing every little crack and watching that water get in there. And boy, if we don’t seal those up, it’s going to get worse and worse,” said Kevin Hawley, president of the Wyoming Trucking Association.
“This isn’t a silver bullet, but we have to keep chipping away at it,” Hawley said, adding that his organization’s board voted unanimously to support the bill.
The committee voted 7-5, with two excused, against sponsoring the legislation.
If lawmakers are not able to find a funding mechanism to address the mounting deficit, Pappas said they may be forced to cover highway costs with General Fund dollars — one of Wyoming’s primary financial accounts that other state programs and services already rely on.
Such was the case earlier this year when lawmakers voted to redistribute sales and use taxes collected on motor vehicles and trailers from the general fund to the highway fund. The redistribution was estimated to provide an additional $70 million to WYDOT annually.
It also appropriated $15 million from the state’s rainy day fund for the purpose of repairing and maintaining tunnels on I-80, where a massive pileup outside Green River in February killed three people and injured 18.
Before the committee voted down the fuel tax bill on Monday, Rock Springs Republican Rep. Cody Wylie asked WYDOT if it could create a “visual report” to illustrate “what’s going to happen if we start triaging our roads.”
“I think we need to take it down to our communities and everything else and work outwards, so people are understanding if we don’t create some kind of funding mechanism or a way to stretch the peanut butter on the toast that we talk about all the time, what we’re going to start losing,” Wylie said.
Monday’s meeting was the last for the Joint Transportation Committee this interim. The 2026 budget session begins Feb. 9.
I forgot to mention horses. Let’s go back to riding horses.
The red hat fantasy is that because they didn’t have vehicles that needed paved roads in 1789, we must not need something like that today? Our more complex world just plain needs a more sophisticated management system for roads, trains, airports, & space systems.
No problem. If we slow down and switch to smaller vehicles, ATVs, and bicycles, we can dodge the potholes.
In the long run a fuel tax is not the answer. Why you might ask? Electric Cars. They don’t use gas. As more people buy EVs, and as next generation EVs are eventually produced with a longer range and faster charging, fewer people will be driving vehicles that have to stop at a fuel tank. Hence, less fuel tax being collected.
Additionally, a gas tax is not a particularly fair tax. If someone owns a car with bad mileage and has to drive long distances they obviously pay a higher tax than someone driving shorter distances that is a hydrid. Many of those driving the longer distances in less fuel efficient cars are earning far less than those in the latter category. So some are paying a much higher portion of their income in fuel tax than others. I understand the argument that those driving the most should pay the most, but that line of reasoning ignores the fact that we all benefit from having good roads.
A simple solution is to raise the registration fee for all vehicles based on the vehicle’s valuation. That would mean that people who can afford more expensive cars would contribute the most to maintaining the roads.
Just a thought.
Wyoming already collects a $200.00 per year ” Decal Fee ” on electric vehicles, in lieu of fuel tax. By comparison, my 2010 Honda Civic 4-cylinder did not pay anywhere near $200 in Wyoming’s cheap gasoline tax last year. It gets near 40 MPG on the highway, so there’s that.
Wyoming does assess public EV chargers ( but not your private 110 volt wall charger in the garage ). They license each charger for $25/year then tax the electricity sold as fuel according to a (dubious ) formula conversion. Annual license plate registration fees for EVs are in their own vehicle category and fee structure. So it’s not like Tesla drivers aren’t paying for the pavement they drive on.
Of note: owners of hybrid gas-electric vehicles pay ‘ fuel taxes ‘ twice, to some extent.
P.S. Not that long ago, in 2017 , the State and County fees for registering a motor vehicle in Wyoming doubled in a single swoop.
EV’s are not the answer. Using a Tesla Model 3 as an example, and a size equivalent gas powered car; the Tesla is heavier due to the battery. The heavier the vehicle, the more wear and tear on the roads. EV’s require stronger tires to carry the extra weight, and deal with the instant on torque during acceleration EV’s are capable of.
Another downside is charging. For simplicity’s sake, let’s a say an EV has a 100 KwH (Kilowatt Hour) battery. To charge that from discharged to charged (empty to full) in one-hour; you need a charger capable of providing 100 Kw’s, which is public charger level of equipment, not home chargers. If you want to charge in 1/2-hour, you need a 200 Kw charger, 15-minutes needs 400 Kw, etc. Let’s say you have a 10 charger station capable of 100 Kw per charger all at the same time, which is worse case scenario; then you need a 1,000 Kw (1 Mw) grid connection. That goes to 4 Mw if you want simultaneous 15-minute charging. Now you’re talking wind turbine generating capability per station. Can you imagine a wind turbine at every charging station? I-80 west of Cheyenne is already an unsightly mess with the turbine farms.
EV’s shift the pollution burden elsewhere; in other words, out of sight out of mind.
Cheers.