1/20/03 - The state's Transportation Strategy Board has outlined a plan to spend $5.5 billion for transit improvements, including highway work, all paid for by increases in the gas and sales tax, The Hartford Courant reported. The plan does not, at this point, specify any increase in diesel tax.
The board cautioned that state lawmakers would make the final call on what taxes would be increased if the plan moved forward.
First, the lawmakers must address a half-billion budget shortfall in the current fiscal year and $1.5 billion more in the fiscal year that begins in July, The Courant reported. In addition, while some legislators have indicated support for certain projects in the highway plan, the price tag, they indicated, could be a problem.