Roads and bridges in Missouri are underfunded and deteriorating due to a lack of resources to repair them. Show-Me State voters have an opportunity to address the situation by increasing the state’s gas tax for the first time since 1996. For twenty-two years, gas in Missouri has been taxed at a fixed 17 cents per gallon with no adjustment for inflation.
As the cost of maintaining roads and bridges has grown, the gas tax has remained the same and its purchasing power has been cut in half by inflation. This has created issues across the state, but especially in rural communities where local governments struggle with limited budgets.
Proposition D would gradually increase the gas tax by 2.5 cents per year over a four-year period and send 30 percent of the fuel tax funds will go directly to counties and cities to spend on local roads and bridges.
MFA Oil and its farmer-owners depend on safe, reliable roads and bridges to move large equipment throughout the state’s backroads and highways. The rural transportation system provides the first and last link in the supply chain from farm to market. If passed, Proposition D will provide much-needed resources to address the dire condition of the state’s roads and bridges. Please keep this in mind on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 6.