TOLEDO, Ohio — Due to a state mandated tax increase on gasoline, you're going to see the cost of a gallon go up 10 and a half cents Monday.
For every gallon of gas you buy, no matter the cost, 38.5 cents of it will now go to state tax money.
That little bit of change adds up quickly.
"That's $1.6 billion that is being allocated over the next two years, $830 million a year to ODOT and local governments and the local governments have jurisdiction over how they choose to spend their infrastructure dollars," Director of the Ohio Department of Transportation Dr. Jack Marchbanks said.
Initially, ODOT officials asked the state for a higher increase, and they said the deficit would mean putting off some more major projects.
Where ODOT spends it's portion of the money will be based largely on safety factors.
"What you will be seeing more of are smaller scale safety improvement projects," Marchbanks said. "We are investing a hundred million dollars additionally because of this motor vehicle user fee increase in safety projects. Ohio will be third in the nation in terms of total dollars invested in safety projects, only behind California and Texas so that's where you'll see it first."
To compare, California's gas tax goes up next month to 47.3 cents.
Obviously, no one wants to pay more, but with gas prices going up and down from one week to the next, will drivers even notice the change?
Over the past three months in Ohio, gas prices have averaged from $2.46 per gallon to a high of $2.78, according to our friends at GasBuddy.
Legislators argue that if the tax increase hadn't been such a large topic of conversation, most people might not even notice the slight change.
"It's good for Ohio because we have an economy that depends on our infrastructure. Our infrastructure is the lifeblood of many of the jobs we have here. We are a logistics state. Gosh, 60% of the entire population of the United States is within one day's drive. This is an infrastructure system that you depend on to get your family to and from work, to and from school, this is an investment that was absolutely necessary for the well-being of Ohioans," Marchbanks said.
Diesel fuel will also see an increase of 19 cents.
The math adds up to cost the average driver traveling 15,000 miles per year at 25 miles per gallon just over $60 annually.
Director Marchbanks said that despite not getting all the funding requested, they plan not to revisit the topic of another tax increase for four to five years.