Texas' 'Electroline' tax

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by aerohead

The county 'knows' the actual annual mileage, GVWR, from which they might have some mathematical relationship to ascertain each vehicle's real impact on the roads an highways, from which The Highway Trust Fund would receive an appropriate revenue to cover annual maintenance.

With so many trucks being used as if they were nothing but an oversized grocery getter, I guess the GVWR won't be so effective at all to figure out the damage a Silverado or F-250 will cause to the roads...

On a sidenote, what about driving on unpaved roads? Should road tax apply to such unimproved pathways too?

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by cRiPpLe_rOoStEr

With so many trucks being used as if they were nothing but an oversized grocery getter, I guess the GVWR won't be so effective at all to figure out the damage a Silverado or F-250 will cause to the roads...

On a sidenote, what about driving on unpaved roads? Should road tax apply to such unimproved pathways too?

The Civil Engineers may have some mathematics they use to correlate GVWR, tire contact patch area, and dynamic 'plowing' of asphalt, when it's ambient temperature reaches that of 'plasticity', and the road surface actually begins to creep' when exposed to vehicle traction interface stress and strain of acceleration and deceleration.
Not only do vehicles create 'waves' in the surface of asphalt roads, we're actually seeing certain stretches of Dallas/Ft.Worth highways being shut down recently, due to thermal 'buckling' during peak Summer heat.
Dirt roads in the USA are mostly 'FARM and MARKET', an still require 'crowning' with a road grader, maintenance of drainage ditches and culverts, of which costs would have to be supported through some revenue-generating mechanism.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by aerohead

Dirt roads in the USA are mostly 'FARM and MARKET', an still require 'crowning' with a road grader, maintenance of drainage ditches and culverts, of which costs would have to be supported through some revenue-generating mechanism.

It happens in Brazil too, even though maintenance of dirt roads tends to be more neglected here. There are also some dirt roads in suburban areas here too. Odd enough, some cobblestone-paved streets seem to not require too much maintenance in low-speed or low-traffic areas, yet some folks tend to relate asphalt with how "prestigious" the neighborhood is.

[JSH]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

Funding necessary and predictable expenditures like road infrastructure from gasoline taxes or any other weird scheme is stupid. It should be funded through the regular methods of taxation just like all the other necessary and predictable public services.

I say abolish all weird taxes that make no sense; especially property taxes.

I wholeheartedly agree that agree that gasoline taxes are a stupid way to fund roads. They should just be funded out of the general fund. Even if we want to have a specific tax to directly fund roads from road users fuel taxes are a dumb way to do it. It would be much simpler and direct to simply tax road users per mile they drive. Drive more / pay more. Simple

I disagree that property taxes are weird. They are the 3rd leg of a balanced tax system. Sales, Income, and Wealth. (Property taxes are just a form of a wealth tax). Property taxes are also the most steady of the 3 the produce a steady revenue stream. Both sales and income taxes can vary wildly year to year based on economic conditions.