Bill > SB284

This bill increases the state's gasoline and special fuel excise taxes and creates new funds for road maintenance and remediation. Specifically, it raises the gasoline tax from seventeen cents per gallon to twenty-two cents per gallon starting July 1, 2019, with further gradual increases until July 1, 2025, after which the rate will be adjusted annually based on a construction price index, and similarly increases the special fuel excise tax from twenty-one cents per gallon to twenty-six cents per gallon on the same date, with comparable future adjustments. The bill also adjusts the percentage of gasoline tax revenues distributed to various funds, including the state aviation fund, motorboat fuel tax fund, municipalities and counties for road purposes, the county government road fund, and the municipal arterial program, generally decreasing these percentages to allow for increased revenue for state road maintenance and a new Carlsbad brine well remediation fund. A new "state road maintenance fund" will be established to receive a significant portion of these increased taxes for road reconstruction and maintenance, and a "Carlsbad brine well remediation fund" will be created to address environmental issues in Carlsbad, with a portion of distributions to Carlsbad and Eddy County being transferred to this fund. The bill also modifies how certain distributions are calculated and allocated to municipalities and counties, and clarifies the purposes for which these funds can be used, primarily for road construction, maintenance, and repair.