Governor not ready to raise state motor fuels tax

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — Skyrocketing construction costs are limiting South Dakota’s ability to rebuild highways, but Gov. Mike Rounds says he’s not ready to support raising the state motor fuel tax that pays part of the tab for road projects.

Rounds said he has asked the state Transportation Department to look at ways to economize, including more resurfacing instead of total road reconstruction. If the state is still short of money after those steps, increasing the fuel tax could be considered, he said.


“Before I would go with a tax increase, we’re going to take a look at how we spend the existing money and see if we can’t stretch it farther,” Rounds told The Associated Press.

The Republican governor said he has always believed the state should do everything it can to match the federal highway money available to South Dakota, and the state so far has come up with the required match.

But since the state motor fuels tax was last increased in 1999, increases in steel, asphalt, concrete and petroleum-based products have essentially doubled the cost of road construction, officials have said.

AP