Today’s Strib story about the transportation bill says the package “would cost a typical three-car family in the Twin Cities between $250 and $500 a year.” Roadguy is not a typical three-car family, or even an atypical one, so he got out his trusty IKEA calculator and tried to figure out just how much he’d be contributing to the plan.

Unfortunately, the calculator has only an eight-digit display (and no scientific notation), so the billions in spending wouldn’t fit. It’s also hard for Roadguy to estimate how much a half-cent metro-area sales tax might cost him when he has no idea how much he currently pays each year in sales taxes. And there’s no quick way to compare the cost of not spending more public money on transportation (hours stuck in congestion, vehicle damage from rough roads, air pollution, etc.).

But Roadguy was able to calculate that he’d pay about $20-$30 more per year in gas taxes (lots of road trips, but a smallish car and a short commute). Also, he’ll need a new vehicle sometime in the next decade, so the higher registration renewal fees would eventually lighten his bank account by hundreds of dollars.

Then Roadguy remembered that the calculator on his laptop can handle numbers into the zillions. So, in the simplest terms, if the tax increases add up to $6.4 billion and are divided by 5 million Minnesotans and then divided by 10 years, it works out to $128 a year per person. (Or, if you’re a four-person family, a little over $500 a year.)

So today’s questions are: Do you support the bill? How much do you think you’d pay, and how did you do the math? Will the Legislature override the governor’s veto? Whether you’re a bus rider who ignores gas prices or a solo driver with a long commute, please add your thoughts to the comments section below.

A few more links on the subject:

• Minnesota Public Radio’s story on Monday’s legislative developments is here; the Pioneer Press version is here; a KARE-11 video is here.
• In a poll released Friday by Minnesota Public Radio, a slim majority of respondents backed the nickel increase in the gas tax; a larger majority rejected a dime increase. Story is here.
• The Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy said yesterday that a poll it sponsored found strong support for the half-cent metro sales tax; click here for info.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 15th, 2007 at 6:05 am and is filed under Transportation conversations. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.