Vermont Plan Could Boost Diesel Tax

The Vermont Senate’s efforts to minimize an increase in the state’s gasoline tax could raise the diesel tax there by as much as 4 cents over the next two years, the Rutland (Vt.) Herald reported.

The state’s trucking industry was unaffected by fuel-tax changes approved last month by the Vermont House, which voted to approve a gas-tax increase of about 7 cents per gallon, with additional increases indexed for inflation, the Associated Press reported.

But state Sen. Dick Mazza, chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee, said trucking also bears responsibility for upkeep of Vermont’s roads, and his committee is poised to raise diesel taxes by 2 cents this year and another 2 cents in 2014, the Herald reported.

The state’s diesel tax is currently 29 cents per gallon.