Officials want to hear from residents before deciding if they should establish a new gas tax in Will County.

Members of the county board’s public works and transportation committee agreed Thursday to gather additional information and to schedule a public hearing on the issue. Board members also suggested hosting town hall meetings in their districts to talk about the potential gas tax.

Will County does not currently have a gas tax but was given the authority to institute a 4-to 8-cent countywide tax when the state approved its 19 cent per gallon gas tax increase. Neighboring counties including Cook, DuPage and Kane already have countywide gas taxes.

Meetings are expected to be scheduled in the near future, said committee chairman Joe VanDuyne, a Wilmington Democrat.

A countywide gas tax could generate from $12.1 million per year at a 4-cent per gallon level to $24.25 million at 8 cents per gallon, said Jeff Ronaldson, the county’s director of transportation. The full county board would have to approve the measure.

Republican members of the county board took aim at the Democrat majority favoring the gas tax and issued a statement opposing the plan, saying it is not necessary and residents are already taxed enough.

They said the county already will receive $6.2 million through the statewide gas tax increase. The county currently receives about $9.2 million through motor fuel taxes. Additionally, the county would get another $23 million over the next six years through the state’s budget for road projects.

“If the other side of the aisle wants to put a gas tax in, it is time to ask residents who weren’t given a voice on the state gas tax to weigh in,” Will County Board member Mike Fricilone, R-Homer Glen, said in the news release. “We should ask the residents how they want to spend their money and let them decide.”

Supporters of the tax, many of them Democrats, noted infrastructure plays an important role in the county’s economic development and future growth and that while the topic of added taxes is not usually popular, the revenue is needed to maintain the county’s roadways.

“We need to look at what’s needed in the county,” said Jackie Traynere, a Bolingbrook Democrat.

Ronaldson also said holding off on roadwork would likely result in higher project costs later.

He presented board members with a list of projects, currently unfunded, that could benefit from a gas tax including Manhattan-Monee, Crete-Monee and Laraway roads.