Gov. Patrick Amends Latest Transportation Finance Bill

When the latest state transportation finance bill was put before him for approval, Gov. Deval Patrick said the bill, which was supposed to invest a necessary $805 million into roadways, bridges and rails per year by 2017, did not take in to account the probable removal of a key revenue source in 2017. He returned the bill Tuesday with an amendment which he hopes is a fix.

The bill, a collaboration between the House and Senate, would generate revenue by way of an increase in gas tax by 3 cents to 24 cents per gallon, it would add a $1 per-pack cigarette tax and add a 6.25 percent sales tax on computer system design services, according to a State House press release June 27.

Patrick said in a statement July 2 the bill did not account for the anticipated loss of $135 million in existing revenue through the removal of the Western Massachusetts Turnpike tolls in 2017.

Through Patrick’s amendment, the state’s Commissioner of Revenue will be directed to increase the gas tax by the amount necessary to replace the lost toll revenue if the tolls come down, according to the statement.

“The $805 million in new revenue proposed by the legislature would bring meaningful progress toward delivering that kind of system, but the legislation before me does not yet achieve that,” Patrick said in the statement.

Additionally, Patrick amended the legislation to guarantee that the one member of the Massport Authority Board represents a community directly impacted by Massport activities, either East Boston, South Boston or Winthrop. He also recommends delaying the effective dates of the gas tax and computer system design services and software modification sales tax sections of the bill to avoid retroactive taxation and allow the Department of Revenue and affected taxpayers adequate time for proper implementation of these changes, the statement says.

Legislators have proposed a series of have been working on a variety of transportation plans since early in 2013.