Colorado now collecting 2-cent-per-gallon gas fee

Colorado began collecting a 2-cent-per-gallon fee on gasoline purchases on April 1.

Revenue from the fee, which increases to 3 cents per gallon on July 1, will go toward addressing the state’s multibillion-dollar transportation project backlog. e charge was imposed through a bill passed by the legislature in 2021 that also added fees on deliveries, rideshare rides and electric vehicles.

e gas fee was originally supposed to begin in July 2022, but the legislature delayed the start until April 1, at a cost of $45 million, because of high gas prices. A year ago, the average cost of a gallon of regular gas in Colorado was $3.97. In recent weeks, gas prices have hovered around $3.50.

e gas fee is set to increase gradually by 1 cent per year until it reaches 8 cents per gallon in July 2028. In July 2032, the fee will be adjusted annually based on in ation. Other fees imposed by the bill include:

- A 27-cent fee on deliveries

- A 30-cent fee on rideshares e fuel and road-usage fees are the subject of a lawsuit led in Denver District Court by conservatives who argue the charges were illegally imposed. Colorado’s Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights requires that voters approve all tax increases, but fees can be imposed by the legislature as long as the revenue goes to a set purpose.

- A 4-cent-per-gallon fee on diesel fuel. Like the gas fee, the diesel fee increases annually — but by 2 cents — until it reaches 16 cents in 2028.

Colorado also collects a 22-cent tax on each gallon of gas sold. e state’s gas tax is among the lowest in the country.

Having thalassophobia — fear of deep water — as an integral part of my psyche, “ e Boys in the Boat” is not a book I ordinarily would’ve read. But after a couple of literaryminded friends highly recommended it, I decided to give it a try. I’m thrilled I did because the story is far more than a historical account of the University of Washington’s eight-oar rowing crew’s quest for gold in the 1936 Olympics. It is a tale of grit and determination of working-class young men who struggled and experienced most challenging times throughout their lives but refused to be fated by their circumstances. It’s also a deep dive into the complexity of and philosophy behind the sport, which leads to the most telling aspect for me: It’s an allegory for reaching mental and emotional ow, the point at which all seems to be in perfect harmony, all resistance vanishes, and you feel completely whole and perhaps moving on an ethereal plane.

After reading the prologue and rst chapter, in which the author, Daniel James Brown, paints the background — Seattle during the Great Depression replete with Hoovervilles — and introduces Joe Rantz, the heart of the crew, I knew how much of my waking moments over the next week would be spent.

Four years into the Great Depression, conditions remained bleak