How should Rockford pay for commuter rail?

June 8th, 2009 at 11:02am Thomas V. Bona

That’s the multimillion-dollar question, and according to a new survey, local residents are split on the answer.

Asked about increases to the sales tax, property tax, income tax, gas tax or vehicle registration fee, almost 36 percent said “none of the above”, which isn’t a surprise. What is a surprise is that sales tax was the most popular, while a gas tax was the last popular.

It’s pretty clear that commuter rail in Rockford needs some sort of funding option besides fares to keep going. Mass transit without government subsidy doesn’t generally work because fares would be too high to get enough users. But other forms of transportation are government-subsidized - how many airports and highways are paid by taxes? Why should mass transit be any different?

In my mind, a gas tax would seem to make a lot of sense - you’d be paying a tax to fund something that could help you pay less of said tax. Using gas taxes to fund alternative transportation projects could also help level off gas prices in general - it’s both a disincentive to drive as much and an incentive to use another mode, thus reducing demand for gasoline. Despite the conspiracy theorists out there, supply and demand are still the key driver in gas prices.

But maybe I’m missing something. Why are folks more in favor of a sales tax and against a gas tax hike? What do you think is the best funding option. I’ll even include a very non-scientific poll, but I’m particularly interested in the discussion.

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