Legislator introduces bill to reduce SC gas tax

COLUMBIA -- A Democratic state legislator wants South Carolina to reduce its already-low gas tax by 10 percent, saying his proposal would cut a regressive tax that hits the state’s poorest the hardest.

The bill introduced by Rep. Bakari Sellers would reduce the state gas tax from 16 cents a gallon to 14.4 cents a gallon next July.

“It’s an opportunity where we can help people through this economic recovery,” said Sellers, D-Denmark.

The tax hasn’t changed since 1987.

The combined gas tax of 16.75 cents per gallon – which includes environmental impact and inspection fees – ranks South Carolina 47th nationwide. California ranks first at 49.3 cents per gallon; Alaska is last at 8 cents, according to an Oct. 1 report by the American Petroleum Institute. The federal gas tax adds 18.4 cents per gallon.

House Ways and Means Chairman Brian White called the proposal interesting.

“I applaud his willingness to lower taxes,” said White, R-Anderson.

But he noted the state Department of Transportation depends on the revenue to maintain state roads and bridges, many of which are structurally deficient.

For years, proposals to increase the state’s gas tax to improve state roads have gone nowhere in the Republican-controlled Legislature.

In September, Holley Ulbrich, a senior scholar with Clemson University’s Jim Self Center on the Future, told a House panel studying tax changes that the 16-cent tax would have to double just to keep up with inflation. She argued people driving more fuel-efficient cars would hardly notice an increase phased in over time as gasoline prices rise and fall. But Rep. Tommy Stringer, the Landrum Republican overseeing the panel, dismissed the idea as a nonstarter.

Sellers said his decrease proposal should be part of overall tax reform. Legislators need to make infrastructure a priority and pay for it in the state budget, he said.

White agreed that infrastructure is essential for economic development and safety, and that changes to DOT funding will be needed, especially as more fuel-efficient cars cause drivers to fill up less often. He also opposes increasing the tax. But he said he’s unsure how the state would benefit from a 1.6-cent reduction.

White noted that family and friends who live in other states make a point to add to their tank when driving through South Carolina.

“They love to come to South Carolina and buy gas because it’s so much cheaper,” he said. “We already have an advantage. I don’t know what advantage it would give us to do that.”

Earlier this year, DOT ran into trouble paying contractors. A $52 million advance from the Federal Highway Administration allowed the agency to catch up in August. The agency also delayed $24 million in resurfacing and other small projects in an effort to build up reserves and resolve cash-flow issues.

Transportation Secretary Robert St. Onge has said the problem primarily stemmed from the agency taking on too many construction projects at once and not adequately planning for the bills coming due, as well as state gas tax collections remaining flat.