Sales Tax on Gasoline: Who Should Benefit?

George Skelton’s quote from Senate Transportation Committee Chairman Kevin Murray (D-Culver City) in “Governor, Legislature Stopped in Gas Tax Gridlock” (July 9) that “it makes sense that people who pay sales tax on gasoline should get the benefits of it” ignores the fundamental principles of taxation and democracy in our society. If we based government spending on Murray’s theories we would have government programs designed to benefit the rich, while the less fortunate in our society would fall by the wayside.

Skelton is correct that it seems unjustified to put the sales tax on gasoline into the state’s general fund and that the funds should go toward improving roads and alternative transportation methods, but he misses the fact that these taxes should not just benefit the drivers who pay them. The gasoline tax should also go toward repairing the damage that vehicle emissions do to our environment.

Laura Davidson

Los Angeles

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Skelton has it absolutely right when he says that the sales tax that motorists pay on gasoline should be spent only on transportation-related items. But he doesn’t follow his logic through. If the sales tax is really a user fee, as he alleges, then this restriction should also be applied to the sales tax collected on sales of automobiles, tires and car parts, as well as the myriad of other items necessary to motorists, such as soap used at car washes and paper and ink used to print tickets dispensed at parking lots.

But Skelton is being elitist if he limits his efforts to benefit only those of us who drive cars. If the sales tax is really a user fee, then how about directing taxes on book sales to support libraries, taxes on drug sales to enhance Medi-Cal and taxes on restaurant meals to benefit soup kitchens?

William Bunyan

Venice