Which states rely the most on motorist taxes to pay for road repairs?

Sergii_Petruk // Shutterstock Who hasn’t driven down a bumpy, pothole-filled road and wondered where their taxpayer dollars are going? In 2018 alone, highway and road repairs across the U.S. totaled a whopping $145.33 billion–but that hasn’t been enough to keep up with the nation’s ailing transportation infrastructure. It’s estimated that 1 in 5 miles of highways and major roads–along with 45,000 bridges–are in poorly maintained condition. States usually charge motorist taxes to pay for the construction and maintenance of these roads. To determine which states depended the most on taxes for roadway maintenance projects, Jerry compiled data from local and state government finance sources, the Federal Highway Administration, and the Tax Foundation, an independent, nonprofit tax policy institute that uses figures from the U.S. Census Bureau. States that have more highway repairs needed than they have tax income to fund often turn to other additional taxes to make up the difference. Variables like inflation and the popularity of electric cars are throwing a wrench into states’ highway funding plans. In addition, newer cars, which were once reliable sources of revenue in the past, now have better fuel economy, decreasing the amount of fuel-related taxes that states can collect. Looking ahead, many federal and state legislators are exploring a vehicle miles traveled tax, according to the Tax Foundation. This alternative approach is based on the number of miles a motor vehicle user travels instead of how much they spend on fuel. Though it would bring in more revenue, it also raises alarm bells regarding taxpayers’ privacy.  The four states that managed to raise 100% for their road-related costs through charges and tolls, licensing fees, and motor fuel taxes are California, Tennessee, Montana, and Indiana. Not surprisingly, California’s expenditures dwarf the others, with the Golden State spending $12 billion on roadway maintenance. Tennessee and Indiana spent about $1.6 billion for their shares of highway expenditures and Montana came in at less than $500 million. Among all four states, the largest amount of taxpayer money came in the form of motor fuel tax revenues. Indiana sourced 78% of its infrastructure revenue from gas taxes, with Tennessee (67%), Montana (57%), and California (53%) following behind. The other funding sources include licensing revenue and tolls. On the other side of the spectrum are the states where taxpayer money accounted for only a small share of their highway spending. These include Alaska, where only 17% of highway spending was sourced from state infrastructure revenue, and North Dakota, where it was only 29%. To make up for their shortfall, both of these states turn to revenue from severance taxes, which are levied when natural resources like oil and natural gas are extracted from the state. When it comes to size, Wyoming taxpayers, who live in the least populated state, contributed 58%, or $409 million, to their state infrastructure expenses. By comparison, the two most populous states after California are New York and Texas. New Yorkers contributed 60%, or $13 billion, to the total cost of maintaining their roadway while Texans kicked in 74%, or $11 billion. All of these states must turn to other sources for funding, such as revenue collected from other levies or the federal government. Below are the state infrastructure revenue and highway spending numbers for every state and Washington, D.C. Using 2018 figures from a Tax Foundation study, the following data does not include contributions to the individual states and Washington D.C. from the federal government, only those portions for which the states themselves are responsible. Those states that raised more than 100% of their highway- and road-related costs were ranked according to the percentage that exceeded the full portion raised. Any ties in the rankings are the result of rounding the figures. #51. Washington D.C. f11photo // Shutterstock – District’s highway spending in 2018: $433.2 Million – District infrastructure tax revenues: $66.5 Million – Amount of district’s highway spending funded by motorist taxes: 15% #50. Alaska Jay Juno // Shutterstock – State’s highway spending in 2018: $1.05 Billion – State infrastructure tax revenues: $180.8 Million – Amount of state’s highway spending funded by motorist taxes: 17% #49. North Dakota Guy William // Shutterstock – State’s highway spending in 2018: $1.15 Billion – State infrastructure tax revenues: $335.8 Million – Amount of state’s highway spending funded by motorist taxes: 29% #48. Vermont SNEHIT PHOTO // Shutterstock – State’s highway spending in 2018: $452.6 Million – State infrastructure tax revenues: $158.2 Million – Amount of state’s highway spending funded by motorist taxes: 35% #47. Utah TLF Images // Shutterstock – State’s highway spending in 2018: $1.67 Billion – State infrastructure tax revenues: $736.7 Million – Amount of state’s highway spending funded by motorist taxes: 44% #46. Arkansas Kristi Blokhin // Shutterstock – State’s highway spending in 2018: $1.48 Billion – State infrastructure tax revenues: $665.8 Million – Amount of state’s highway spending funded by motorist taxes: 45% #45. Wisconsin Canva – State’s highway spending in 2018: $3.94 Billion – State infrastructure tax revenues: $1.78 Billion – Amount of state’s highway spending funded by motorist taxes: 45% #44. Connecticut barbsimages // Shutterstock – State’s highway spending in 2018: $1.62 Billion – State infrastructure tax revenues: $734.9 Million – Amount of state’s highway spending funded by motorist taxes: 45% #43. Rhode Island nsiliya // Shutterstock – State’s highway spending in 2018: $316.4 Million – State infrastructure tax revenues: $147.3 Million – Amount of state’s highway spending funded by motorist taxes: 47% #42. Nebraska Sandra Foyt // Shutterstock – State’s highway spending in 2018: $1.32 Billion – State infrastructure tax revenues: $618.3 Million – Amount of state’s highway spending funded by motorist taxes: 47% #41. Minnesota Mark Herreid // Shutterstock – State’s highway spending in 2018: $4.15 Billion – State infrastructure tax revenues: $1.96 Billion – Amount of state’s highway spending funded by motorist taxes: 47% #40. South Dakota Paul Brady Photography // Shutterstock – State’s highway spending in 2018: $666.3 Million – State infrastructure tax revenues: $315.5 Million – Amount of state’s highway spending funded by motorist taxes: 47% #39. Alabama SunflowerMomma // Shutterstock – State’s highway spending in 2018: $2.10 Billion – State infrastructure tax revenues: $1.01 Billion – Amount of state’s highway spending funded by motorist taxes: 48% #38. Nevada TFoxFoto // Shutterstock – State’s highway spending in 2018: $1.72 Billion – State infrastructure tax revenues: $836.0 Million – Amount of state’s highway spending funded by motorist taxes: 49% #37. Mississippi Krasula // Shutterstock – State’s highway spending in 2018: $1.23 Billion – State infrastructure tax revenues: $623.3 Million – Amount of state’s highway spending funded by motorist taxes: 51% #36. Louisiana Trong Nguyen // Shutterstock – State’s highway spending in 2018: $1.40 Billion – State infrastructure tax revenues: $768.6 Million – Amount of state’s highway spending funded by motorist taxes: 55% #35. Iowa FTiare // Shutterstock – State’s highway spending in 2018: $2.41 Billion – State infrastructure tax revenues: $1.36 Billion – Amount of state’s highway spending funded by motorist taxes: 56% #34. Wyoming haveseen // Shutterstock – State’s highway spending in 2018: $409.8 Million – State infrastructure tax revenues: $238.3 Million – Amount of state’s highway spending funded by motorist taxes: 58% #33. Arizona Tim Roberts Photography // Shutterstock – State’s highway spending in 2018: $1.90 Billion – State infrastructure tax revenues: $1.12 Billion – Amount of state’s highway spending funded by motorist taxes: 59% #32. New York Sean Pavone // Shutterstock – State’s highway spending in 2018: $13.03 Billion – State infrastructure tax revenues: $7.84 Billion – Amount of state’s highway spending funded by motorist taxes: 60% #31. Virginia LisaCarter // Shutterstock – State’s highway spending in 2018: $4.48 Billion – State infrastructure tax revenues: $2.76 Billion – Amount of state’s highway spending funded by motorist taxes: 61% #30. Kentucky Alexey Stiop // Shutterstock – State’s highway spending in 2018: $1.57 Billion – State infrastructure tax revenues: $994.1 Million – Amount of state’s highway spending funded by motorist taxes: 63% #29. Colorado Vicki L. Miller // Shutterstock – State’s highway spending in 2018: $2.77 Billion – State infrastructure tax revenues: $1.78 Billion – Amount of state’s highway spending funded by motorist taxes: 64% #28. North Carolina JSvideos // Shutterstock – State’s highway spending in 2018: $4.64 Billion – State infrastructure tax revenues: $2.99 Billion – Amount of state’s highway spending funded by motorist taxes: 65% #27. Maine inarts // Shutterstock – State’s highway spending in 2018: $785.5 Million – State infrastructure tax revenues: $513.0 Million – Amount of state’s highway spending funded by motorist taxes: 65% #26. Kansas amadeustx // Shutterstock – State’s highway spending in 2018: $1.30 Billion – State infrastructure tax revenues: $852.3 Million – Amount of state’s highway spending funded by motorist taxes: 66%   #25. Pennsylvania Christian Hinkle // Shutterstock – State’s highway spending in 2018: $9.08 Billion – State infrastructure tax revenues: $6.00 Billion – Amount of state’s highway spending funded by motorist taxes: 66% #24. West Virginia Medard L Lefevre // Shutterstock – State’s highway spending in 2018: $846.4 Million – State infrastructure tax revenues: $559.9 Million – Amount of state’s highway spending funded by motorist taxes: 66% #23. Missouri Real Window Creative // Shutterstock – State’s highway spending in 2018: $1.56 Billion – State infrastructure tax revenues: $1.06 Billion – Amount of state’s highway spending funded by motorist taxes: 68% #22. Ohio Brian Kapp // Shutterstock – State’s highway spending in 2018: $4.61 Billion – State infrastructure tax revenues: $3.16 Billion – Amount of state’s highway spending funded by motorist taxes: 69% #21. New Hampshire Wangkun Jia // Shutterstock – State’s highway spending in 2018: $586.8 Million – State infrastructure tax revenues: $419.1 Million – Amount of state’s highway spending funded by motorist taxes: 71% #20. Illinois FiledIMAGE // Shutterstock – State’s highway spending in 2018: $6.35 Billion – State infrastructure tax revenues: $4.59 Billion – Amount of state’s highway spending funded by motorist taxes: 72% #19. South Carolina Kristi Blokhin // Shutterstock – State’s highway spending in 2018: $1.64 Billion – State infrastructure tax revenues: $1.21 Billion – Amount of state’s highway spending funded by motorist taxes: 74% #18. Texas Regan Bender // Shutterstock – State’s highway spending in 2018: $11.54 Billion – State infrastructure tax revenues: $8.59 Billion – Amount of state’s highway spending funded by motorist taxes: 74% #17. Georgia Brett Barnhill // Shutterstock – State’s highway spending in 2018: $3.04 Billion – State infrastructure tax revenues: $2.29 Billion – Amount of state’s highway spending funded by motorist taxes: 75% #16. Maryland Suraju Kehinde // Shutterstock – State’s highway spending in 2018: $3.07 Billion – State infrastructure tax revenues: $2.35 Billion – Amount of state’s highway spending funded by motorist taxes: 76% #15. Oregon Gordon Montgomery // Shutterstock – State’s highway spending in 2018: $1.58 Billion – State infrastructure tax revenues: $1.23 Billion – Amount of state’s highway spending funded by motorist taxes: 78% #14. Florida O.Malikoff // Shutterstock – State’s highway spending in 2018: $9.15 Billion – State infrastructure tax revenues: $7.26 Billion – Amount of state’s highway spending funded by motorist taxes: 79% #13. Massachusetts View Apart // Shutterstock – State’s highway spending in 2018: $2.82 Billion – State infrastructure tax revenues: $2.24 Billion – Amount of state’s highway spending funded by motorist taxes: 79% #12. New Mexico Melanie Hobson // Shutterstock – State’s highway spending in 2018: $572.0 Million – State infrastructure tax revenues: $460.4 Million – Amount of state’s highway spending funded by motorist taxes: 80% #11. Michigan Real Window Creative // Shutterstock – State’s highway spending in 2018: $3.56 Billion – State infrastructure tax revenues: $2.91 Billion – Amount of state’s highway spending funded by motorist taxes: 82% #10. Oklahoma Nick Fox // Shutterstock – State’s highway spending in 2018: $1.93 Billion – State infrastructure tax revenues: $1.59 Billion – Amount of state’s highway spending funded by motorist taxes: 82% #9. Idaho Inbound Horizons // Shutterstock – State’s highway spending in 2018: $735.0 Million – State infrastructure tax revenues: $611.8 Million – Amount of state’s highway spending funded by motorist taxes: 83% #8. Hawaii Nadia Borisevich // Shutterstock – State’s highway spending in 2018: $700.2 Million – State infrastructure tax revenues: $588.6 Million – Amount of state’s highway spending funded by motorist taxes: 84% #7. New Jersey FotosForTheFuture // Shutterstock – State’s highway spending in 2018: $3.98 Billion – State infrastructure tax revenues: $3.38 Billion – Amount of state’s highway spending funded by motorist taxes: 85% #6. Delaware Khairil Azhar Junos // Shutterstock – State’s highway spending in 2018: $583.6 Million – State infrastructure tax revenues: $515.0 Million – Amount of state’s highway spending funded by motorist taxes: 88% #5. Washington Checubus // Shutterstock – State’s highway spending in 2018: $3.72 Billion – State infrastructure tax revenues: $3.53 Billion – Amount of state’s highway spending funded by motorist taxes: 95% #4. California