Do You Like This Tax?

Woodmonkey · 03-09-2005, 19:28

The Democrats run Oregon, so it could happen. Talk about penalizing people for fuel efficient vehicles.

Quote:

Oregon weighs tax on mileage

Quote:

A planned program in Oregon would tax drivers by the number of miles they travel instead of by the amount of gasoline they use to compensate for an expected loss of revenue caused by increasing use of more fuel-efficient vehicles.

Officials in California and Washington also are considering imposing a mileage tax as a way to drum up more money. Maryland and Virginia legislators, however, said they would oppose such a program.

The mileage fee, which would be computed whenever a person pumps a tank of gasoline at a service station, would replace the state's fuel tax and compensate for a projected loss of revenue resulting from increased use of hybrid and other fuel-efficient vehicles, Oregon officials say.

"Our concept is why don't we separate fuel consumption from road revenue and from the funding of roads, and then connect road use with funding of the roads," said James Whitty, manager of the Oregon Department of Transportation's Office of Innovative Partnerships and Alternative Funding.

A yearlong pilot program will begin later this year or early next year, Mr. Whitty said.

Vehicles would be fitted with a Global Positioning System, or GPS, that can tell when a car is being driven in state and out of state, Mr. Whitty said.

When a person fills his gas tank, a device on the gas pump would read the in-state mileage recorded by the car's receiver and send the information to the service station's billing system, eliminating the fuel tax and tacking on the mileage fee.

Some hybrid vehicles can get 50 miles per gallon, while cars get on average about 25 miles per gallon and sport utility vehicles average about 15 miles per gallon.

Registration of hybrid vehicles in Northern Virginia jumped 44 percent from October to last month, said John Townsend, manager of public and government relations for AAA Mid-Atlantic auto club.

In the association's Transportation Poll 2005, 53 percent of people said they strongly favored increasing incentives for driving hybrid vehicles, such as tax breaks and being allowed to drive in high-occupancy-vehicle (HOV) lanes.

Virginia Sen. Marty E. Williams, Newport News Republican and chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee, said a program charging a mileage fee would be instituted in the state "over my dead body."

"If you're trying to clean up the environment, there can't be a worse incentive," Mr. Williams said.

Vehicles that cause more wear and tear on roads -- such as SUVs -- could be charged a rate higher than smaller vehicles, Mr. Whitty said.

Virginia's gas tax, which has remained the same since 1986, is 17.5 cents per gallon. The revenue received from the fuel tax has lost about 40 percent of its buying power because of inflation, said Tamara Neale, a spokeswoman for the Virginia Department of Transportation.

Maryland's motor fuel revenue has remained "flat or increased," said Jack Cahalan, a spokesman for the Department of Transportation.

Maryland Sen. James E. DeGrange Sr., Anne Arundel Democrat and chairman of the Senate Budget and Taxation public safety, transportation and environment subcommittee, said he would not expect the General Assembly to support a mileage fee.

Civil libertarians say the use of GPS technology in vehicles is a privacy violation because of the potential to track a person's whereabouts.

Such concerns are based on inaccurate information because the technology would be used only to record whether a driver is traveling within a certain zone -- in state or out of state -- not the exact location, Mr. Whitty said.

Organizations such as the San Diego-based Privacy Rights Clearinghouse maintain the technology could be used for recording more than mileage.

"Today maybe they're tracking whether you're in the state or not, [but] tomorrow who knows what they'll track," said Beth Givens, director of the organization.

Click here for the source of this story

Betty Boop · 03-09-2005, 21:43

It's a frightening thought that we would be penalized for being more fuel efficient, isn't it? I don't know about Oregon and commute distances between home and work place, but here in California the mileage can be quite high for those who bought where it was affordable and then chose to make the monstrous commute to the job.

It might be effective in California in placing more commuters onto the trains from the far outer limits to the inner cities, but then the next thing we would see would be a tax on that form of transportation to make up for the loss of mileage tax.

I think this is totally unacceptable and unfairly targets long-distance commuters with the highest taxes and with no increased public tax benefit.

se0sea · 03-10-2005, 08:36

amazing how they come up with such innovative ways to line their pockets.

BrianK · 03-10-2005, 15:03

Like a tax??????????? You're kidding right!!

Can't help but wonder what the cost to implement this bit of technology will cost and who will foot the bill.

[Vehicles would be fitted with a Global Positioning System, or GPS, that can tell when a car is being driven in state and out of state, Mr. Whitty said.

When a person fills his gas tank, a device on the gas pump would read the in-state mileage recorded by the car's receiver and send the information to the service station's billing system, eliminating the fuel tax and tacking on the mileage fee]

Mr. Whitty doesn't mention what the ongoing maintenance will cost or court costs if people dispute the calculations. Will the up front costs justify the expected end results or will this be another great plan because people will find ways to avoid the capturing of info? Radar detectors come to mind as a means of avoiding technology. Just like in war when weapons are invented anti weapons are thought up. What would prevent people familiar with connecting the device [GPS] from learning how to effectively disconnect it? As for tracking via gas purchase are they going to prohibit people from buying gas for boats, lawn mowers and other gas using equipment that won't be fitted ?

Seems to me that Mr. Whitty ought to be investigated 1st. Does the word "Kickback" sound familiar?

Bluehawk · 03-10-2005, 16:29

I suppose if I had the idea that they were spending our tax money wisely, or even prudently, then new weird taxes wouldn't bother me quite as much as they do... and this one seems truly idiotic.

Uncle_Sam · 03-10-2005, 17:09

But Washington, Idaho and Califronia don't have those taxes right?

Lol...In that case, You just go to one of those states, and get fuel.... And You escape the dumb taxes...

Sam

Betty Boop · 03-11-2005, 04:59

Uncle Sam, those are the three states considering the tax! With the realization that hybrid vehicles will cut gasoline consumption way, way down, a new tax revenue has to make up for the loss of state income - so why not tax a person not for how much gas they use but rather how many miles they travel to and from work? As a telecommuter, my travel tax would remain very low but for those, for example, who moved out into the low desert where they could afford to purchase and then commute to Los Angeles every day, the thought of what that person pays not only in state income tax but add in a mileage tax and it just may be more family cost effective to just not work at all. The implications of such a tax are really quite staggering for Californians.

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