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Gas tax: not just interstate I've been living in Eagle Point for 23 years. If I remember right, the gas tax was to maintain and build roads. I believe as of now we're paying 24 cents a gallon. Where is all that money going? They keep telling us that all the roads in Oregon need repair, but except for the last couple of years there wasn't hardly any work being done as I traveled between Medford and Seattle every two days. And yet the gas tax was coming in. I heard that the politicians are using that money on something else, and I would like to know what's going on! Thank you. -- C.J. B., Eagle Point You are right that Oregon voters decided in 1980 to reserve gasoline taxes for maintenance, repair and construction of roads and bridges. That requirement is locked in the state Constitution, which only the voters can change. Before 1980, gasoline taxes also could be spent on state police and parks, and voters since have rejected a couple of attempts to return those agencies to the road fund. But gas taxes are not reserved just for work on interstate highways -- you say you traveled between here and Seattle before retirement -- or even for the 7,500 miles in the state highway system. The Oregon Department of Transportation does keep 60 percent of the 24 cents per gallon, about $800 million for the next two years. (That amount excludes the increase approved by the 1999 Legislature but likely to go to voters next May.) Oregon's 36 counties divide 24 percent for their roads, based on vehicle registrations, and the state's 240 cities divide the rest for streets, based on population. ( Send your questions to "Since You Asked," Mail Tribune Newsroom, P.O. Box 1108, Medford, OR 97501; or by fax to (541) 776-4376; or by e-mail to: [email protected] Please include your name, address and phone number for verification.) Today's News Index Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA