CALTRANS FACT BOOKLET

Financial Information
Transportation Revenue Facts
Federal Fuel Excise Taxes
• 18.4 cents per gallon gasoline tax.
• 24.4 cents per gallon diesel tax.
• Taxes are collected and deposited in the Federal Highway
Trust Fund.
• Taxes are returned to the states in the form of Federal
Obligation Authority (OA) for reimbursement.
• Under the Federal Authorization MAP-21, California’s
formula obligation authority for Federal Fiscal Year 2015
was approximately $3.2 billion. On December 4, 2015,
President Obama signed the first long term funding plan
for transportation since 2009. The Fixing America’s Surface
Transportation (FAST) Act, provides stable funding over
the next five years, and authorizes approximately $3.4 billion
for California in Federal Fiscal Year 2016.
State Fuel Excise Tax on Gasoline
• 27.8 cents per gallon effective July 1, 2016. This is a decrease
of 2.2 cents per gallon from 2015-16.
• Adjusted annually by State Board of Equalization.
(BOE) to maintain revenue neutrality with the loss
of State sales tax on gasoline.
o 18 cents per gallon base state excise tax, unchanged since 1994.
• Approximately 64% of revenues to the State.
• Approximately 36% of revenues to Cities and Counties.
o 9.8 cents per gallon price-based excise tax effective July 1,
2016, a decrease of 2.2 cents per gallon from 2015-16.
• The first allocation of funding is used to backfill
transportation programs previously funded by weight
fees (see section under Weight Fees on page 28), with the
remaining split as follows:
Transportation Revenue Facts (cont.)
Price-based Excise Tax
Revenue Distribution
State Fuel Excise Tax on Diesel
• 16 cents per gallon effective July 1, 2016. This is an increase of
three cents per gallon from 2015-16.
• Adjusted annually by BOE to maintain revenue neutrality
with the increase to State sales tax on diesel:
o About 48% of revenue to the State.
o About 52% of revenue to cities and counties.
State Sales Tax on Gasoline
• General Statewide sales tax on gasoline was eliminated July 1, 2010.
State Sales Tax on Diesel
(Available for Transportation Purposes)
• 6.5% sales tax on diesel:
• 4.75% base tax.
• 1.75% additional tax, effective July 1, 2014.
o About 64% of revenues to State Transit Assistance.
o About 36% of revenues to the Public Transportation Account
(PTA).
Transportation Revenue Facts - Division of Budgets: Steven Keck, Chief (916) 654-4556
• 44% to State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP).
• 44% to Local Streets and Roads.
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• 12% to State Highway Operation Protection Program (SHOPP).
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Financial Information