Livingston Today

A proposed tax that could see Michigan residents facing much higher bills at the gas pump has been met with resistance even as the governor claims it will be good for the state now and in the future.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has said the money from the gas tax would fund infrastructure repairs and upgrades, but according to at least one group, the tax hike could end up killing tens of thousands of private sector jobs. 

The Mackinac Center for Public Policy, which describes itself as a “nonprofit research and educational institute that advances the principles of free markets and limited government," said its research shows the number of private sector jobs lost due to the gas tax could be more than 20,000. The Center said the tax could raise as much as $2.5 billion each year by 2022 and create 6,300 government jobs. 

“Fortunately, a straight-up tax hike is not the only option available to lawmakers,” Mackinac Center Senior Director of the Morey Fiscal Policy Initiative Michael D. LaFaive wrote in a post on its website. “They can also reprioritize current spending to roads, or raise the tax by 45 cents and offset some or all that tax increase with spending cuts and personal income tax cuts.”

The head of the Livingston County Republican Party is also not a fan of the proposed tax cut.

“The fact is, the proposed $2.8 billion tax increase will only result in $1.8 billion more for roads and is more about expanding government while hurting families and their pocketbooks, not about fixing the roads,” Chair Meghan Reckling said in a statement to Livingston Today. “Outrageous tax increases won’t fix Michigan’s long-term infrastructure issues, and tripling our gas tax would simply force employers to make tough employment decisions.”

The results of the Mackinac Center’s research were released earlier this year. As recently as last month, a story in the Michigan Bridge said the proposed gas tax was likely not going to succeed. State officials told The Bridge they are looking at alternatives to raise the money needed to fix the state’s roads and crumbling infrastructure.