Ryberg to fight proposed 7 cents gas tax

By PHILIP LORD Senior writer

Sen. Greg Ryberg said he felt a proposed 7 cents per gallon gas tax increase approved Wednesday by the Senate Finance Committee will not see the light of day.

"I think it is ill-conceived," said Ryberg, who admitted he was one of seven committee members to vote against the bill. "I think they have gone nuts."

The Aiken Republican, who made his money in the convenience store business, said he felt the General Assembly should look elsewhere to fund needed road improvements.

The S.C. Department of Transportation says it needs $150 million to $180 million to do needed road improvements. Ryberg believes this money should come from the general fund budget, not by increasing the gas tax.

Since seven members opposed the legislation coming out of committee, Ryberg said a battle on the amendment to an existing bill would be spirited.

"I hope we can kill it on the floor," Ryberg said of the issue facing the full Senate.

Current estimates show the state's budget growing at between $250 million to $300 million a year over the next six years, which would mean approximately $1.5 billion more for state coffers, Ryberg said.

Ryberg is in favor of earmarking some of that money for roads projects.

The House version of the bill had called for earmarking money for highway repair projects without raising taxes. But Senate Finance Committee chairman Hugh Leatherman, R-Florence, said more was needed to fix roads that most South Carolinians ride and die on because they aren't safe enough.

Under that proposal, consumers would face the first 2-cent-a-gallon increase after average fuel prices fall below $2 a gallon or no later than Dec. 1, 2006. The tax would rise on gasoline by a penny each year for the next five years. The proposal would raise $197 million, Leatherman said.

Adding a tax while fuel prices have soared isn't a good idea, critics say. And in this case, it could doom legislation that could address some road needs without a higher tax.

"We ought to give that a chance to work before we raise taxes," House Speaker David Wilkins, R-Greenville, said.

Adding the tax makes it less likely the original bill will pass, Wilkins said. "With gasoline prices at an all-time high, I do not think there is an appetite for raising taxes."

But Leatherman said the state needs the $197 million.

"Secondary roads have not had repaving or improvement in four years," Leatherman said.

As it stands, the state spends most of the money it raises from the current tax of 16.8 cents a gallon for major road projects that are eligible for federal matching money, Leatherman said. With 80-20 federal matches on some of those funds, "they'd be foolish not to do that," Leatherman said.

That leaves the state's farm-to-market road system without much cash for repairs or improvements. "The fact remains that we've got some of the most dangerous secondary roads in the nation. That's where most of our people get killed," Leatherman said.

Elizabeth Mabry, director of the state Department of Transportation, said "the money is very much needed."

For instance, adding two-foot shoulder strips on rural roads cuts highway deaths by 23 percent, Mabry said.

Ryberg said the state budget currently being considered includes a lot of "pork" for parts of the state. He mentioned a new library for Williamsburg and a new sheriff's office for Marlboro County as prime examples of the way the state is spending money now that the tight financial times of the last five years has past.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Contact Philip Lord at plord@aikenstandard.com.

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