Possible tax hikes in the near future

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) - One way or another, taxes may go up soon as the Patrick administration explores different ways to raise revenues for the Massachusetts Department of Transportation.

22News found out what kind of tax increase could be least detrimental to our wallets.

To maintain and improve our highways, bridges and public transit, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation needs about 13 billion dollars.

The source of new revenue? Possibly us taxpayers.

Governor Deval Patrick announced a wide range of options that could help MassDOT raise money they need for those improvements. Option #1: raising gas taxes from 21 cents to 30 cents.

But many people told 22News they think they already pay too much for gas.

Sandra Hottin of Agawam told 22News “The way it goes up and down, you can't budget for that anymore. We already pay a lot for that. They were talking about $5 a gallon this summer, and to put another tax on top of that, it'd be too much for people.”

Option #2 involves our paychecks... increasing income taxes to 5.66%.

But with the increase in federal payroll tax, people don't want that either.

Denise LaBelle of West Springfield said “I've already seen it in mine. It's not a lot, but it still made a difference to me when I opened up my paycheck. I saw that I had $20 less in my pay.”

But the last option... People say they could possibly live with it. Sales tax would go up to 7.75%.

Luigi Montefusco of Springfield told 22News “Everybody buys milk. Everybody buys the paper. Everybody buys food. Everybody buys shoes, so everybody pays tax. Not everybody pays income tax, and not everybody pays gas tax.”

Gov Patrick did not say which option he liked on Monday. He will discuss his plans in depth on Wednesday during his State of the State address.