CALIFORNIA IN BRIEF : SACRAMENTO : Builders Group to Back Gas Tax Hike

The California Building Industry Assn., a statewide group that includes the state’s major developers, announced that it has reversed its position on Gov. George Deukmejian’s proposed fuel tax increase and will now support the measure. Building industry officials said they withdrew their opposition to the proposed 9-cents-per-gallon tax increase because of recently approved legislation authored by Assemblyman Richard Katz (D-Sylmar), which, they said, addressed the builders’ concerns. The organization, which has 7,000 member companies, opposed the proposed fuel tax increase that goes before voters on the June ballot as Proposition 111, because it would result in requiring home builders to provide expensive facilities to handle traffic congestion in their developments. These, in turn, would add to the costs of a home and hurt the housing market. Katz’s bill would ease those requirements, the builders’ association said.