The Commonwealth currently draws from a number of revenue sources for transportation improvements, including:
•The Virginia Sales and Use Tax, a 5.3% tax assessed on all retail sales.
•The Virginia Motor Fuels Tax includes a tax on gasoline and diesel. The tax on Virginia gasoline can be broken down into 4 parts. They are broken down by cents per gallon: 19.89 - State Excise Tax, 2.50 - Other States Taxes/Fees. 22.39 - Total States Taxes/Fees and 40.79 - Total State plus Federal Excise Taxes (@18.4 cpg). The national average for the total state plus federal excise taxes is 48.08 (cents per gallon).
•Federal Aid Highway Grants, disbursed from the Federal Highway Trust Fund.
•The Motor Vehicle Sales and Use Tax, a vehicle tax assessed at 4.15% of the purchase price.
The funds must be used to finance the following activities, in order: debt service, support to other state agencies, highway maintenance and operations (including payments to localities), administrative and support services, planning and research, environment monitoring and compliance, and finally, construction. With this model, as the costs and needs for maintenance rise, the funding available for new construction can drop.
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