La Grande’s gas tax defeat echoes Oregon’s rejection of state transportation funding

La Grande voters rejected a proposed 5-cent-per-gallon gas tax in Tuesday’s election, turning down a funding measure city officials said was needed to keep up with road repairs.

The failed measure mirrors Oregon’s broader transportation funding challenges. Earlier this year, Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek attempted to raise the state gas tax to help fund bridges and roads, only to be rebuked by Oregon voters. The rejection by voters has left local governments like La Grande’s — a regional hub in Eastern Oregon — to search for their own solutions and hope that reelected Kotek will consider a more equitable funding approach.

Mayor Justin Rock, who voted against putting the gas tax on the ballot, said he wasn’t surprised by the outcome. About 70% of voters rejected the gas tax measure.

“It was a big ask of the city to put an extra tax on fuel at this time, you know?” Rock said. “I agree that the tax would have helped with rebuilding and fixing the roads that we have because of course funding is low when it comes to repairing roads. But surprised that it didn’t pass? No, I’m not surprised at all.”

Rock said the city would prioritize the worst roads and repair what it could with available funds. Public Works Director Kyle Carpenter, who said he was disappointed the measure didn’t pass, said they will also continue to look for grand opportunities to help fix pothole-filled roads — and looking toward Kotek, who was reelected by 52% of Oregon voters.

“She’s got her work cut out for her,” Carpenter said. “Tax revenues from the gas tax are shrinking. It’s hard to assess electric vehicles, and anything you do is going to cost a lot of money. So, there’s a lot of work to be done to figure out how they’re going to get more money to feed it down.”

Carpenter said the city of La Grande gets about $1 million from state funds, with $200,000 that goes toward potholing and small road repair projects.