by Kelsey Penrose
Carson City voters will be asked whether or not to continue the five-cent per gallon diesel tax first implemented in 2020 to help fund road maintenance projects in the capital city which has long suffered pavement deterioration and huge funding deficits.
In June 2020, the Board voted 4-1 to institute a new diesel tax in Carson City, which went into effect on Aug. 1, 2020, with a sunset provision for the expiration of the tax on Dec. 31, 2022 unless the tax is approved by voters through a ballot question.
At the time, it was estimated that the diesel tax would generate approximately $400,000 annually to be added to the roads budget, which has incurred a massive deficit for years. For example, to reconstruct one mile of road costs around $1 million, according to then-Transportation Manager Lucia Maloney during a Nov. 2020 meeting on the potential new tax.
Since its implementation in 2020 through the end of Nov. 2021, the tax generated around $685,000, an annualized amount of half a million, more than the original estimate predicted. The money has been used in pavement preservation projects, as opposed to constructing new roads, including roadway projects planned for Saliman, Curry, and Silver Sage streets.
While some voters might be supportive of the tax because of the need for road maintenance, others might be looking for any sort of break offered at at the pump during current high inflation trends that some warn are heralds of an oncoming recession.
At it’s inception, Supervisor Stacey Giomi noted that he had received very few comments against the proposition. However, that was at a time when gas and diesel prices were low due to the pandemic.
If voters choose not to continue the five-cent tax, the tax will end on Dec. 31, 2022.
Voters must decide which is more important: their costs at the pump, or the maintenance of their roads?
