Post by pavel on Jan 21, 2016 16:26:26 GMT -6
Gas prices are at the lowest they’ve been on average in about seven years, according to AAA. Today crude oil prices are near 2003 lows – under $27 a barrel – and lower gas prices will follow.
While this is great for fueling up our cars, trucks, mopeds and motorcycles, it’s not the best news for the roads we have to drive on. That’s because a big chunk of the money used to fix those roads comes from the Rainy Day Fund, which is partly funded through taxes charged on the production of oil and gas in Texas.
Back in 2014, Texans voted on sending half that money to the State Highway Fund. It was approved overwhelmingly, because people were thinking, “Oh, more money for roads and I don’t have to pay more taxes out of my pocket? Sounds like a good deal.”
The one thing we didn’t expect in 2014 – when oil prices were above $100 a barrel – was that oil prices would come tumbling down to where they are now, about a quarter of that value.
Read more: www.texasstandard.org/stories/heres-what-lower-oil-and-gas-prices-mean-for-texas-road-conditions/
While this is great for fueling up our cars, trucks, mopeds and motorcycles, it’s not the best news for the roads we have to drive on. That’s because a big chunk of the money used to fix those roads comes from the Rainy Day Fund, which is partly funded through taxes charged on the production of oil and gas in Texas.
Back in 2014, Texans voted on sending half that money to the State Highway Fund. It was approved overwhelmingly, because people were thinking, “Oh, more money for roads and I don’t have to pay more taxes out of my pocket? Sounds like a good deal.”
The one thing we didn’t expect in 2014 – when oil prices were above $100 a barrel – was that oil prices would come tumbling down to where they are now, about a quarter of that value.
Read more: www.texasstandard.org/stories/heres-what-lower-oil-and-gas-prices-mean-for-texas-road-conditions/