This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

In various gatherings during the past several weeks, Gov. Gary Herbert has expressed his interest in raising Utah's gas tax — a move that would mark the first such increase in more than a decade.

Last week, Herbert said a gas-tax hike could hobble the state's fragile economic recovery.

"I was pretty clear in my State of the State that I did not support any tax increases," Herbert said during a KUED news conference last week. "There was in fact a proposal in the Legislature this session for a gasoline-tax increase. I would have vetoed that. Our fragile economy right now I think would not warrant that."

But in various meetings with legislators, education officials, transportation and business leaders, Herbert has seemed more amenable to a hike in the future, according to several people who attended the gatherings.

Just last week, Herbert told members of his Excellence in Education Commission that he would be open to an increase in the gasoline tax, according to several people who were at the meeting.

"He was very open and strongly advocating for a gas-tax hike," said Sen. Howard Stephenson, R-Draper, who said it was his impression that the governor would have been behind a fairly steep hike, as much as a dime a gallon.

PTA Education Commissioner Sue Carey said the governor was making a case against SB229 — a bill Herbert vetoed, but legislators are aiming to override on Friday — which would earmark $60 million in sales tax for road projects.

"He was visibly ticked off about the veto override session and was kind of going off about that," she said. "He said that we need to look at other ways to fund roads and transportation besides tying the hands of future Legislatures and someone said, 'Would that include the gas tax?' and he said, 'I would consider that. We need to look at lots of ways to fund roads.' "

Both Carey and Stephenson support the gas-tax increase, but other legislators have cringed when the governor has brought the idea forward.

House Majority Leader Brad Dee, R-Ogden, said he was in a meeting with other legislators after a bill signing last month and Herbert made the case that a gas-tax increase would be preferable to a bill he vetoed to use sales tax for roads.

"He was [suggesting] the fact that the public would be more willing to support a gas-tax increase for road maintenance as well as road construction rather than putting it in a transportation investment fund," Dee said. "I disagreed with that. I said I didn't think at this time the gas tax was the right direction to go and I didn't think my caucus would, either."

And on April 19, Herbert spoke to the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce transportation task force, made up of contractors and transportation officials. During the meeting, he said that 2013 might be the time to raise the gas tax or index it for inflation, one person in attendance reported.

That would put the increase after Herbert's 2012 re-election campaign.

Utah's gas tax has been set at 24.5 cents per gallon since 1997, and revenues from the tax have been relatively flat since 2002, leaving legislators looking for other ways to fund roads, including dedicating sales-tax revenues for that purpose.

Sen. Stuart Adams, R-Layton, said he proposed the sales-tax earmark, which Herbert vetoed, in a way to avert or at least postpone a gas-tax increase.

"It's going to cause us to go into the budget and look before we look at any raise in the gas tax,"Adams said. "I believe we have a very conservative constituent base, and because of that we have a very conservative Legislature, and I believe in order to raise a tax, there has to be an overwhelming need to do it."

Herbert argues that the debate over SB229 has more to do with ensuring legislators have the flexibility to fund programs like higher education and human services, and less to do with a gas tax. "It's not about the gas tax," Herbert said. "I believe that's a red herring."