Ohio is the latest state to raise its fuel tax to fund infrastructure needs, with the state legislature approving a 10.5¢-per-gallon increase on gasoline as of July 1. The state’s tax on diesel fuel will also rise by 19¢. State taxes on both fuels have been 28¢ per gallon since 2005.
Gov. Mike DeWine (R) originally requested raising the gas tax by 18¢, following an Ohio Dept. of Transportation report forecasting an annual funding gap for state and local transportation projects of as much as $2.5 billion. In addition to scaling back the increase, Ohio legislators also turned down the governor’s proposal for automatic fuel tax adjustments indexed to inflation.