La Grande City Council Votes to Send Gas Tax Measure to Voters

The La Grande City Council voted 4-2 Wednesday, July 1st to send a proposed 5-cent-per-gallon gas tax to voters in November.

The measure includes a five-year sunset clause, meaning the tax would expire after five years unless voters or the city take action to renew it. If approved, the money would be dedicated to street and road maintenance.

A similar measure was placed before voters in 2016, when the city proposed a 3-cent-per-gallon vehicle fuels tax. That measure was rejected by voters by roughly a two-to-one margin, according to a February memo from Public Works Director Kyle Carpenter.

The issue is coming back as the city continues to face rising road maintenance costs and limited funding options. According to Carpenter’s memo, La Grande’s road maintenance costs are currently supported by the state gas tax and the city’s street user fee fund. The memo lists current funding levels at about $950,000 per year from the state gas tax and $400,000 per year from the street user fee.

Carpenter’s memo estimated that a local gas tax could generate between $125,000 and $175,000 per year for each 1 cent per gallon of tax. Based on that estimate, a 5-cent-per-gallon tax could generate approximately $625,000 to $875,000 per year for street maintenance. The memo states that the estimate was based on unaudited fuel sales numbers reported to the state for fuel sold in La Grande.

A 5-cent-per-gallon tax would add $1 to the cost of filling a 20-gallon tank. Using the memo’s example of a driver traveling 15,000 miles per year in a vehicle averaging 25 miles per gallon, the added cost would be about $30 per year for someone who buys all of their fuel in La Grande.

The gas tax would allow the city to collect money not only from La Grande residents, but also from commuters, visitors and other drivers who buy fuel in town while using local roads. Carpenter’s memo estimated that 25% to 33% of gas sold in La Grande is purchased by transient travelers, while another 25% is purchased by commuters from other communities. Based on those estimates, roughly half of the revenue from a local gas tax could come from non-city residents.

The other option may be less appealing to many residents. If the gas tax fails in November, councilors have indicated the city may need to look at increasing the street user fee instead. That would place more of the cost directly on La Grande households through utility bills, rather than collecting some revenue from visitors and commuters.

The proposal also comes with a concern that is harder to measure: public engagement.

City officials held three round table discussions to gather feedback on road funding options, but turnout was limited. That lack of participation left the council with less direct public input before deciding whether to move the measure forward. While road conditions are often discussed in La Grande, the low turnout raises a question about how closely residents are following the issue before it appears on the ballot.

The five-year sunset clause appears intended to address concerns of affordability  by limiting how long the tax would remain in place while also addressing accountability. It gives voters a defined timeline and creates an opportunity to judge whether the money made a meaningful difference before the tax could continue beyond five years.

For voters, the decision in November will come down to a tradeoff. A gas tax would add cost at the pump, but it would also bring in money from people who buy fuel in La Grande while living elsewhere. Rejecting the tax could mean continued road deterioration or a larger increase to household street fees in the future.