Necessary Evil: A Temporary Gas Tax : Alas, there is no such thing as a free freeway

California transportation officials now estimate the damage to highways in the Northridge earthquake at $750 million. Given the tight budgets the state faced even before the ground started shaking, this sum seems nearly as awesome as the power that Monday’s temblors released in knocking down parts of the Golden State, Santa Monica and other freeways.

However, it is a sum that must be paid, given the importance of those freeways and other damaged roads to the economy of a region that literally was built around the automobile. California won’t be alone in footing the bill, of course. Some of our freeways are interstate highways, so federal aid can be expected.

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ANTE UP: But in the absence of a federal Marshall Plan dedicated to California’s infrastructure--wise but politically unlikely in deficit- conscious Washington these days--somewhere down the line California taxpayers are going to have to ante up, at least for rebuilding highways that are not interstates, such as the Antelope Valley and San Fernando-Simi Valley freeways.

State officials already have options on the table. Assembly Speaker Willie Brown wants a temporary state sales tax increase like that imposed after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. Some Republicans in the Legislature would put a bond issue on the June ballot--but that could delay reconstruction for six months. We prefer a proposal by Sen. Quentin L. Kopp (I-San Francisco) for a temporary gasoline tax increase earmarked for highways.

Gas taxes are, in effect, user fees, and they historically have been designated for construction and maintenance of streets and highways.

California drivers consume 13 billion to 14 billion gallons of gasoline a year. A five-cent-a-gallon increase in the state gasoline tax thus would raise about $670 million a year. The Federal Highway Administration calculates that each registered vehicle in California on average consumes 638 gallons of gasoline yearly. So a nickel-a-gallon tax increase would, on average, cost a motorist $32 more a year.

The traditional argument against the gasoline tax, like that against the sales tax, is that it is regressive, falling most heavily on lower-income groups. But there is a significant offset to this concern.

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PRICES DOWN: Gasoline prices have fallen sharply in recent years, to below $1.10 a gallon now for regular from as high as $1.40 a gallon. All projections indicate there won’t be any big shifts in either the international availability or cost of oil in the coming months. Even with the proposed tax increase, retail gas prices would be below what they were a year ago.

We are confident that Angelenos will favor a temporary nickel-a-gallon gas tax increase if they know it will help get freeways moving again. To win over drivers elsewhere, some of the money should go to retrofit the thousands of bridges and freeways throughout California that are still not earthquake-safe. Nobody likes taxes, of course--but Californians will tolerate a tax when they know it pays for a vital need.