Clark County affirms decade-long extension of inflation-adjusted fuel tax

The Clark County Commission voted Tuesday to extend inflation adjustments to a fuel tax for a decade before voters in 2036 decide if they want to keep them in place.

The “fuel revenue index” — which last fiscal year collected 23 cents per gallon of gasoline — has raised about $1 billion to fund more than 700 roadway infrastructure projects in Southern Nevada since its 2014 implementation, according to the Regional Transportation Commission.

“Today’s vote represents the final step needed to ensure this critical program continues to fund the infrastructure that keeps our region moving,” RTC CEO MJ Maynard-Carey told the commission.

The process allows transportation funding to keep up with rising materials and labor costs, according to officials.

Show of support, dissenting voice

More than 30 people, including regional city officials such as Las Vegas Mayor Shelley Berkley, testified in favor of the indexing extension, which was made possible by Assembly Bill 530, signed into law by Gov. Joe Lombardo in May.

The inflation adjustments were slated to sunset at the end of 2026 after legislators approved the measure in 2013 and voters endorsed them through a ballot question in 2016.

Commissioner April Becker was Tuesday’s dissenting voice.

She said voters should’ve had a chance to decide on the extension again, a requirement in the original legislation.

“That was taken away this year,” Becker said. “That’s the reason that everybody is here having to ask the board to please continue increasing the taxes.”

Infrastructure improvements — and the jobs they create — are necessary, she said. But the tax increase “hurts the poorest people in our community,” she added.

“You didn’t generate $1 billion in revenue,” Becker said. “You made that money off the backs of hardworking people in Clark County who are buying gas (they need) to get to work, and they’re paying a tax.”

‘Significant impact’

Gasoline is taxed at 78.2 cents per gallon, Maynard-Carey said. The federal government collects 18.4 cents; Nevada 24.1 cents; Clark County 9.5 cents, and 26.2 cents goes to the RTC, she said.

Road infrastructure is funded through a collection of a flat motor vehicle fuel tax, a portion of a sales tax and the fuel revenue indexing program, Maynard-Carey said.

RTC Deputy CEO David Swallow said that the nearly $1 billion raised from the inflation-adjusted tax over the past decade has been leveraged into about $3 billion in project funding through bonding and federal grant matching dollars.

“This has had a significant impact on the available funding for the community,” he said.

If indexing was not extended, cash flow for roadway funding would have flattened to about $100 million a year by 2030, instead of a projected yearly $300 million plus, Swallow said.

Extending the proposal required five of seven votes. Becker was the only no.

‘Perfect tax’

The vote, Swallow said, “will continue to enable higher revenues to really keep up with the cost of inflation and preserve that purchasing power.”

Last fiscal year, the indexed portion went up 2.9 cents out of a possible 4 cent annual cap.

Fuel revenue indexing had been projected to raise $160 million during the 2025 fiscal year, which ended at the end of June.

That was about 14 percent of the transportation agency’s annual budget.

Commissioner Marilyn Kirkpatrick, who was the speaker of the Assembly when the original legislation was crafted, said it was necessary amid declining revenues as the state recovered from the 2008 financial crisis.

Meanwhile, Commissioner Justin Jones said higher revenues helps the county stay competitive with federal grants.

“To me, it’s a perfect tax because the people who use the roads are paying for the roads,” Commission Chair Tick Segerblom said. “I think people would support the tax as long as they know where it’s going.”

Contact Ricardo Torres-Cortez at rtorres@reviewjournal.com.