Harrisburg, PA – The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) announced today that the Transportation Revenue Options Commission (TROC) has submitted its report to Governor Tom Wolf and the General Assembly.

You can read PennDOT's press release here and you can read President and CEO Rebecca Oyler's full response here, but an excerpt is below. 

“TROC was given a list of potential taxes and fees to increase to close PennDOT’s funding gap, and PMTA is disappointed to see the final report essentially recommends ‘all of the above,’ without weighing the unintended consequences of many of these increases, particularly for commercial motor vehicles.

“The final report should not be viewed as a comprehensive plan that balances various state interests to fund our transportation system,” Oyler said.  “Instead, TROC’s report is a list of potential options, among others, that can be considered by members of the General Assembly as they weigh the consequences of policy choices and their impact on the state’s economy.”

Funding options in the report include:

Road Use Charges

• Mileage-Based User Fee (MBUF) – 8.1-cents per-mile on all miles travelled in PA
• Electric Vehicle (EV) MBUF Pilot

Tolling

• Corridor Tolling – Toll Interstates/expressways based on distance traveled along that highway
• Managed Lanes (Limited Lane Tolling) – Toll additional lanes on a highway where the traffic is regulated by charging a toll or by encouraging carpooling

Redirection of Funding

• A State Police Funding – Eliminate transfers from Motor License Fund to PSP

Fees

• Vehicle Registration Fee – Increase all vehicle registration fees 100%
• Electric Vehicle Fee – Introduce a $250 fee for EVs and eliminate the Alternative Fuels Tax on EVs
• Vehicle Lease Fee – Increase current rate from 3% to 5%
• Aircraft Registration Fee – Introduce a $50 registration fee for all aircraft in PA
• Transportation Network Company Fee – Establish a $1.10 per-trip fee on all TNCs and taxis in PA
• Vehicle Rental Fee – Increase current fee per rental from $2 to $5
• Goods Delivery Fee – Establish a $1 fee on all deliveries to an end point in PA

Taxes

• Vehicle Sales Tax – Increase tax from 6% to 8% (PGH and Phil rates would increase from 7% to 9% and from 8% to 10% respectively)
• Gas Tax – Index gas tax to inflation
• Jet Fuel Tax – Increase tax from 1.5 cents to 4 cents per gallon

Other

• Ad Valorem (Value-Based) Vehicle Tax – Tax passenger vehicles annually based on their current value
• Reduction to Registration Fees with Ad Valorem – Offset to vehicle registration increases on passenger vehicles with an Ad Valorem tax
• Elimination of Gas Tax with full MBUF – Replace most of gas tax proceeds with MBUF in Phase 3