(KIWA Staff Photo)
Statewide Iowa (RI) — Governor Kim Reynolds says state gas-tax revenue isn’t keeping up with what’s needed to build and maintain Iowa’s roads and bridges — and it may be time to have regular, inflation-linked increases in the gas tax.
The tax rate on gasoline and diesel fuel hasn’t changed since the 10-cent hike that took effect 11 years ago. Reynolds says there’s a growing gap between revenue from the state’s “road use tax” and what is needed for the Iowa’s transportation system.
The property-tax bill Senate Republicans released in January had a mechanism that would have automatically triggered incremental increases in the gas tax that were tied to a yearly inflation factor. However, that was not included in the property-tax realignment package Reynolds signed last month.
During property-tax negotiations with legislators this spring, Reynolds did not publicly share her opinion on whether the gas tax should be included, but during recent taping of the Iowa Press program on Iowa PBS, Reynolds was asked directly about raising the gas tax.
Reynolds signed the final bills of the 2026 legislative session on June 2nd. She is not seeking reelection, and a new governor will be sworn in during the first week of the 2027 session.
