WHEREAS, Texas counties are the functional arm of state government and are responsible for the operation and maintenance of local transportation infrastructure, maintaining more than half of all public road miles in Texas and ensuring safe and efficient travel for residents, businesses, and emergency services; and

WHEREAS, the State Motor Fuels Tax, established in 1923 and last adjusted to twenty cents per gallon in 1991, currently generates approximately $3.85 billion annually, of which one-fourth is dedicated to the Available School Fund and the remaining three-fourths to the State Highway Fund, with only a small portion – $7.3 million – allocated to the County and Road District Highway Fund; and

WHEREAS, the County and Road District Highway Fund allocation to Texas counties has remained unchanged since 1954 despite decades of population growth, inflation, and increasing transportation demands that have significantly reduced the purchasing power of counties to maintain essential local infrastructure; and

WHEREAS, the State of Texas has also established additional registration fees for electric vehicles – $400 at initial registration and $200 annually thereafter – to offset the reduced motor fuels tax revenues associated with non-fuel consuming vehicles; and

WHEREAS, while the electric vehicle fees are currently directed entirely to the State Highway Fund, counties receive no portion of this new revenue source, despite being equally responsible for maintaining and improving the local roadways on which these electric vehicles travel; and

WHEREAS, increasing allocations to the County and Road District Highway Fund from both the motor fuels tax and the electric vehicle registration fees would provide a sustainable, pay-as-you-go funding mechanism for county transportation infrastructure without increasing tax rates or imposing new burdens on taxpayers, thereby ensuring a fairer, more efficient partnership between county governments and the State in maintaining the Texas transportation network; now

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the State Republican Executive Committee calls on the Texas Legislature to:

• Reallocate one penny (5%) of the State Motor Fuels Tax to the County and Road District Highway Fund;

• Allocate five percent (5%) of Electric Vehicle Registration Fee revenues to the County and Road District Highway Fund;

• Distribute to Texas counties in accordance with the existing statutory formula as follows:

• One-fifth allocated according to area determined by the ratio of the area of the county to the area of the state;
• Two-fifths allocated according to rural population, determined by the ratio of the rural population of the county to the rural population of the state; and
• Two-fifths allocated according to lateral road miles, determined by the ratio of the mileage of lateral roads in the county to the mileage of lateral roads in the state as of January 1 of the year of the allocation as shown by the records of the State Federal Highway Planning Survey and the Texas Department of Transportation.