SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Governor Gary Herbert has signed a pair of tax hikes into law.

On Friday, the governor signed House Bill 362, which increases the gas tax by a nickel next year (with a penny increase the next few years after that). The money will pay for increased transportation needs.

“A strong transportation infrastructure has played a critical role in our economic growth and it will continue to do so, thanks to this bill,” the governor said in a statement. “This session we took the necessary steps to address the discrepancy between the funds we have set aside for transportation and the funds we will need to support our growing population and keep commerce flowing through our state for decades to come.”

The governor also signed Senate Bill 97, a $75 million property tax hike to help pay for education.

The Utah Taxpayers Association blasted the tax hikes.

“We are disappointed by the Governor’s actions. He could have protected Utahns from higher taxes but decided to increase the tax burden on the state’s families and businesses. Taxpayers produced $700 million in surplus revenue this year for the state government. To think such tax increases right now are necessary begs the question if the governor and the legislature really were as fiscally responsible in creating the state budget as they claimed to have been,” the group’s vice-president, Billy Hesterman, said in an email to FOX 13.

The tax hikes were among 59 bills signed by the governor on Friday:

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