Walker May Use Sales Tax On Automobile-Related Purchases As Transportation Revenue

Gov. Scott Walker says he’d consider using a sales tax on automobile-related purchases to fund the state’s transportation budget, and that he won’t rule out an increase in the vehicle registration fee.

Walker said he’d rather not raise the gas tax to pay for roads, a move proposed by his own Department of Transportation. However, he said he’s open to using sales taxes that are already collected on automobile-related purchases and using those to fund transportation.

“Not a new sales tax, but sales taxes already collected on automobile-related purchases — whether it’s on repairs, auto parts, vehicle purchases, things that the state collects today. There would be no new tax out there,” he said.

Right now those taxes go to the general fund, where they fund education, health care and prisons.

Asked whether he’d support an increase in the vehicle registration fee, Walker said it might be another alternative. The governor said his goal is to make sure the overall cost of doing business in the state is lower at the end of this biennium than it was to begin with.