Everyone agrees Michigan needs to pour money into repairing its roads.
The question is: Are we willing to pay for those repairs through some hefty raises to the gas tax and registration fees?
Lawmakers in Lansing are perusing House Bill 5298, which would raise the state gasoline and diesel fuel tax to 28.3 cents per gallon, up from 19 cents and 15 cents respectively.
They're also looking at House Bill 5300, which would raise the average vehicle registration fee by 67 percent and truck fees by 25 percent.
Both bills were introduced Jan. 26 and are lodged in the House Transportation Committee for review.
"The raise in the state gas tax would generate an extra $541 million over current revenues and an additional $500 million in registration fees," said Rep. Rick Olson, R-Saline, who is the sponsor of HB 5298 and co-sponsor, with Rep. Judd Gilbert, R-Algonac, of HB 5300.
"The 28.3 cents would be the base level. The tax would also be allowed to annually move up or down by one cent a gallon to a maximum cap of 40 cents a gallon."
Vehicle fees are based on the list price of cars while commercial truck registration fees are based on weight.
"For instance, under HB 533 my vehicle registration would rise to $180, up from the $108 I currently pay," Olson said.
Sterling Heights resident Dennis Zitny hates tax increases, but sees the need in this case.
"I think that ultimately a gas tax is very fair: if you drive more and use the roads more, you end up paying more," Zitny said.
"I hate taxes, but I also hate bad roads. There's no magic pot of money that's going to suddenly appear. You can either have good roads or lower gas taxes. You can't have both."
West Bloomfield Township resident Carol Kliman is against both increases.
"The increases are too much," Kliman said.
"If they capped the gas tax at 23 cents, that would be fine, but you just can't make these big jumps. It's the same with registration fees.
"To go from $108 to $180 is too much," she said. "People would be more accepting if it was to increase from $108 to $120."
Olson feels there's cautious support for the bills.
"My colleagues are pretty quiet on the floor," Olson said. "Everyone recognizes we need to do something, but most of them wish it wasn't up them to do it. But we do have a solid group of bipartisan sponsors on these bills.
"The sooner we get it done, the better the state will be. If we don't spend this money now, we're going to have to spend a lot more on the roads just a few years down the pike."