With gas prices lingering around $4 a gallon, fuel tax collections have taken a hit in West Virginia.
Motorists are filling up their tanks more conservatively - or not at all - as fuel tax revenues have dipped for the third consecutive month, said Deputy Revenue Secretary Mark Muchow.
In May, the state collected $20.5 million, which is $5 million less than the projected $25 million.
April's total was $30 million, off the mark by $3 million. March's collection also accounted for $30 million, coming up about $9 million short for that month's estimate.
Muchow said those figures indicate that fuel consumption is down, meaning those sky-high gasoline prices should eventually plummet.
"At $4 a gallon, people are taking into account how to make travel plans," Muchow said. "They're trying to minimize consumption of motor fuels. When people stop buying motor fuel, there should be realignment between supply and demand. Typically, when consumption goes down, that results in downward price adjustments.
"But there are no guarantees in today's world."
The average price of gas in West Virginia today was $4 a gallon, according to AAA. The national average was about $3.98.
Motorists in West Virginia pay 32 cents per gallon in state gas taxes. Combining that with federal taxes, consumers in the state cough up 50 cents per gallon on top of the price of gas.
All state fuel taxes are paid by entities that pick up the fuel at distribution points, and those costs trickle down to consumers.
The tax rate usually changes every year and is based on the wholesale price of gasoline. Broken down, the state levies a per-gallon excise fuel tax of 20.5 cents. The variable wholesale tax accounts for the remaining 11 cents of the total state tax.
So far this year, the state has collected $355 million in fuel taxes. That's below the $364 million projection for this time, Muchow said.
Fuel taxes are funneled to the ailing State Road Fund, which potentially faces more woes in wake of the drop in revenue collections.
"It's a little dent, but not too big," Muchow said about this year's numbers. "We're down a little more than 2 percent."
The gas tax represents 60 percent of the State Road Fund's money. The rest consists of various licensing fees and the automobile privilege tax.
"Road projects are adjusted accordingly to revenues brought in," Muchow said. "There's a possibility you'll see a little less maintenance and not a lot of new projects to speak of if the trend continues.
"Regarding the adequacy of Road Fund dollars, this is basically an issue facing every state. It's not purely a West Virginia issue."
Other states, such as Pennsylvania and Indiana, have considered privatizing roads. Lawmakers in Virginia are looking into raising driver's license fees and hiking the sales tax on vehicle purchases to ease the financial burden of their highway system.
