The majority of S.C. voters oppose increasing the state’s gas tax, according to a new Winthrop Poll.But with more facts, S.C. voters might be open to paying more at the pump to repair the state’s crumbling roads and bridges, a pollster says. In questions asked exclusively for The State, the Winthrop Poll found 52.3 percent of likely S.C. voters oppose increasing the state’s 16.8-cent-a-gallon gas tax.

“People just want to back away from taxes,” said Winthrop University political scientist Scott Huffmon, who directs the Winthrop Poll. “They’re not popular.” About four in 10 of those surveyed – 43.5 percent – said they favored increasing the state’s gas tax. The rest – 4.2 percent – either were not sure or refused to answer.

South Carolina’s roads are in poor shape. But paying to repair those roads and build new roads to handle added traffic and other transit needs will cost nearly $43 billion that the state does not expect to have over the next 26 years.What’s the state to do? One proposal suggested has been to increase the state’s gas tax, one of the lowest in the nation, by 2 cents a gallon each year for the next decade.