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Proposed Mileage tax to punish Fuel Efficiency

The Oregon Dept of Transportation is seriously concerned about increased
fuel economy reducing their gas tax revenue. So much that they have
a 10 year program to looking taxing vehicles with an odometer tax.

EVEN THOUGH THEY Acknowledge that heavier vehicles do much more
road damage to the approx 2.5 power. So a 6600 lb F250 does 20 TIMES
more damage than a 2000lb Geo they want to tax both at 1.25 cents/mile

They plan on starting with EV's and Plug in Hybrids as a scapegoats and
proceeding to get rid of the entire gas tax as possible.

I kid you not....this is serious folks...and looking to head nationwide.

we should fight this as hard as possible.

You can find more by googling "Road user fee task force faq"

See here:

Excerpt.....

Quote:

Why should fuel-efficient vehicles pay the same mileage fee rate as gas guzzlers?
This issue must be looked at from two perspectives. One is environmental and resource conservation. The other is transportation revenue. From the environmental perspective, the Road User Fee Task Force agrees it makes sense to encourage the proliferation of more fuel-efficient vehicles on to the roads as quickly as possible. On the other hand, from the transportation revenue perspective, fuel-efficient vehicles produce less fuel tax revenue because they consume less gasoline.

While it is good policy to preserve our environment and our resources, it is not good policy to let transportation revenues decline so that the transportation system cannot be properly maintained or modernized. This may sound like a policy contradiction, but it need not be. The Road User Fee Task Force believes both perspectives must be considered in making policy. The task force prefers a strict user fee for transportation revenue while encouraging purchases of fuel-efficient vehicles, such as hybrid electric vehicles, with income tax credits. — RETURN TO TOP

What would the tax rate be for a mileage fee?
The mileage fee rate would be about 1.25 cents per mile, a level similar to the existing gas tax. The task force considered numerous rate adjustment possibilities such as vehicle weight, length or fuel efficiency. For simplicity, the Road User Fee Task Force recommends only one rate adjustment; for time-of-day mileage pricing in specific areas to solve congestion problems and support congestion reduction programs. — RETURN TO TOP

We have something similar in NZ, though it only applies to diesel. Because most diesel vehicles have to distance based tax due to their weight, there are no road taxes on diesel. Petrol on the other hand is taxed on the fuel, and heavy petrol vehicles get a rebate of the petrol taxes as to not double-dip.

The problem is that up to 3500kg, all diesel vehicles are taxed the same. So if I drove a Hyundai Getz CRDi that does 4.5L/100km, I'd be effectively paying ~90c/liter in tax (making diesel cost $2.60NZ/liter vs $2.18 for petrol). However if I drove a Nissan Navara (Frontier in the US) that gets 9.0l/100km, I'd only pay ~45c/liter in road tax, so diesel would cost me $2.15NZ/liter.

My family are currently looking at replacing our Sonata with a small hatch, and looking at the Getz, the diesel uses a quarter less fuel at 4.5l/100km, but will only save 10% in fuel costs compared with the petrol (6l/100km). It's a major disadvantage to diesel cars, which would be very popular if the tax wasn't so dumb (diesel pickups are really common, in fact, petrol models have almost no resale value).

I think that mileage based taxes are okay, as long as they are charged at a rate consistent with the damage done to a road way, and apply to all fuel sources.

Nevermind you're already paying a tax on how much you drive, its called the fuel tax and is meant to get revenue from each mile driven, to add an additional surcharge is just ridiculous, why not stop funneling road fuel tax funds to build court houses and other things that have nothing to do with the road we drive on?

I'd like to see all vehicle taxes being included in the price of the fuel itself.

if US fuel tax is specifically to pay for damage to the road why can't we just have a fuel tax based only on weight? seems so simple

how are they going to collect the taxes?

Quote:

Originally Posted by deathtrain (Post 228735)

how are they going to collect the taxes?

Probably by having you sign an affidavit of your odometer reading every time your car registration is renewed. This is also verified with the odometer reading taken at your yearly mandated state inspection. It's already that way in my state.

Easy to implement. Gotcha. The tax man cometh.

Remember, driving is a "privilege". That means everything related to it is taxable.

There is nothing more greedy on earth than an unstoppable, ever expanding government. :(

Quote:

Originally Posted by Odin (Post 228733)

if US fuel tax is specifically to pay for damage to the road why can't we just have a fuel tax based only on weight? seems so simple

Don't be naive. Any new proposed taxes will be in addition to the ones already in effect.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thymeclock (Post 228748)

Don't be naive. Any new proposed taxes will be in addition to the ones already in effect.

Don't be such a pessimist things can change :thumbup:

even though its not likely

Iowa's talking about it as well, dropping the fuel tax at the pump, and replacing it with a GPS tracking and paying monthly. I'm guessing bikes will be excluded so I guess I'd get another bike. State claims their losing money because of FE cars. They might not be getting as much money as they expected, but they sure aren't losing money.