A Step in the Right Direction?

[Matt Herring]

Oregon moving towards mileage tax instead of gas tax...read below...

Albany Democrat Herald: Archived Articles

[McTimson]

Sounds like it taxes the economic cars more, based on the taxes they listed.

A GPS-based system kept track of the in-state mileage driven by the volunteers. When they bought fuel, a device in their vehicles was read, and they paid 1.2 cents a mile and got a refund of the state gas tax of 24 cents a gallon.

30 MPG vehicle:
300 miles = $3.60
10 gallons = $2.40
Assuming gas is $2/gallon : $20 - $2.40 + $3.60 = $21.20 = $2.12/gallon overall

10 MPG vehicle:
300 miles = $3.60
30 gallons = $7.20
Assuming gas is $2/gallon : $60 - $7.20 + $3.60 = $56.4 = $1.88/gallon overall

So, if you drive economically, you pay more per gallon than you do if you drive like you don't care. I guess overall, you still pay more if you drive poorly, but you wouldn't get taxed as much as if you drove carefully. It punishes the economical vehicles while it helps the low MPG vehicles.

[Snax]

My understanding is that in official terms, this idea has been a non-starter, and I am personally against it because it removes the burden from gas guzzlers via the fuel tax. In other words, cheaper fuel for all, spreading the tax burden out onto those who choose to drive more efficient vehicles.

Basically they are just trying to change the color of the lipstick on the pig and charge the owners of more efficient vehicles disproportionately more for the damage that the larger vehicles do to the road. In a nutshell, it's crap.

[KJSatz]

I don't fully understand, but it feels like a step in the wrong direction for me. I can understand a justification, that the more miles you drive the more damage you're doing to the roads, so they more you should pay for them. However, my Civic does a lot less damage to roads than a big SUV. Wouldn't this mileage tax DISCOURAGE getting a more efficient vehicle and driving it efficiently if gas were even cheaper--no state gas tax if you're using the mileage tracker? If you aren't getting the revenue you need from the gas tax, raise it.

[Frank Lee]

It's too big brother for me.

[hypermiler01]

Nope, disincentivises good fuel economy.

[instarx]

This clearly makes drivers with efficient cars subsidize SUV drivers. That seems way wrong to me.

I have an EZ-Pass transmitter assigned to my car that transmits data when I go through toll booths. The toll booth knows the size of the car the transmitter is assigned to, so bigger vehicles pay higher tolls. By having similar transmitters send vehicle data to the gas pump it would seem easy enough to charge a variable per-mile tax based on the vehicle. That way a fuel efficient car could be charged less tax per mile than an SUV. Or, the per-mile charge could be associated with vehicle weight. There are any number of ways that are better than just mindlessly charging every car the same per mile tax.

What a boon to the trucking industry a one size fits all tax would be! Wonder who is behind the idea?

[jamesqf]

I'd bet on urban legend: the same story's been around in various forms for a decade or more.

[trikkonceptz]

There are still ways to get around this if it were ever passed.

-Buy an electric car ...
-Buy your gas in containers, 10 gallons at a time. In which case the gas tax would be less than the uber miles you racked up hypermiling, thus further cutting the number of trips you make to the gas station.

-If they could tweak it to reward efficient vehicles, then I could agree. I wouldn't mind paying a slightly higher tax to support the road I drive on daily, but as an exchange I would like much lower gas prices for the effort I make to save fuel.

[Matt Herring]

I also disagree with this proposal...hence the "Step in the Right Direction" with the ? at the end.

It is too big brother...it is too "spread the wealth" or in this case "spread the tax."