Proposal calls for Missouri’s first gas tax increase in decades

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KY3) - Missouri lawmakers will consider a bill to increase the state’s gas tax, one of the lowest such rates in the country, in the 2021 legislative session.

State Sen. Dave Schatz (R-Sullivan) pre-filed SB 262 ahead of the legislative session. The proposal calls for five consecutive years of a two-cent gas tax increase, starting Jan. 1, 2022.

If approved, Missouri would gradually increase its motor fuel tax each year until it reaches 27 cents per gallon in 2026. Missouri’s motor fuel tax is currently 17 cents per gallon, the second-lowest in the nation behind Alaska, according to Tax Foundation.

The proposed gas tax increase aims to provide more funding for repairs, maintenance and other transportation improvements for the state’s roads and bridges.

Lawmakers proposed similar bills in 2014 and 2018, but neither passed. Some estimate a gas tax increase would raise around $100 million annually for transportation alone.

Missouri has not increased its gas tax since 1996 as part of a phased six-cent per gallon increase approved in 1992.

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