California’s non-partisan legislative analyst has recommended that the state increase the fuel tax and index the tax to increases in inflation.

In a report delivered to lawmakers in Sacramento, analyst Elizabeth Hill also called on lawmakers to reject a proposal from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to divert money from transportation to other areas to balance the state’s budget.

“We believe that the state should rely on the excise tax on gasoline and diesel fuel as the main source of transportation funding as it has in the past,” Hill said in her report. “We estimate that an increase of 6 cents per gallon in this tax would generate about the same amount of revenue that otherwise would be provided by Proposition 42.”

Hill said the General Assembly should ask the state’s voters to overturn Proposition 42 and replace any lost revenue with increased fuel taxes. According to the state’s Attorney General’s Office, Proposition 42 requires that all existing revenue from state sales and use taxes on fuel be used for transportation purposes.

Hill has served the state for almost 20 years as the nonpartisan analyst for the General Assembly, The Los Angeles Times reported. Leaders from both parties rely on her expert advice; Hill analyzes the governor’s budget plan and offers alternatives, the newspaper said.

In her report, Hill said the fuel tax is a logical source of funds for transportation purposes.

“Transportation spending has traditionally been funded by an excise tax on gasoline and diesel fuel,” the report said. “The gas tax is charged to drivers only, in rough proportion to the amount of driving they do.

“The gas tax approximates a fee charged for the provision of a service — that is, the road used by the driver. Most other potential transportation funding sources, such as local sales taxes, bear no relationship to miles driven. Only direct tolls for road use are closer to a user fee for driving than the gas tax.”