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Okie Boarder
Ladies Man
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City: Edmond
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 Posted: Jan 11, 2013 1:20 pm Post subject: Pay per mile? |
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Looks like they're toying with the idea of charging per mile again. Thoughts?
Personally, I'd rather see us pay per mile rather than a tax on fuel. I don't like the idea of both. I'd also rather see the roadways become private "owned" and operated, essentially making it all toll roads.
| Quote: | The financial lookouts who toil in America's transportation departments have been waving red flags for years that there wasn't enough money to keep the nation's 4 million miles of roads and bridges drivable. Now the federal government's top accountant has told Congress it should experiment with taxing drivers by the mile to make up billions of dollars in shortfalls. The debate isn't whether you'll pay more to drive in the future, but how you'll pay — and how much.
For decades, federal and state governments have relied on gasoline and diesel taxes to pay for road building and maintenance. By one industry group estimate, the nation needs a minimum of $123 billion a year just to resurface roads and shore up the bridges it has, let alone build anything new.
But the tax side of that equation hasn't kept pace with those needs. The federal tax of 18.4 cents a gallon on gasoline was last raised in 1993. State taxes add on an average of 22 cents a gallon, and many of those haven't been raised in several years as well; Georgia charges the same 7.5 cents a gallon in taxes it did in 1971. (In Europe and Japan, fuel taxes for roads are 10 times higher.) And as new, more efficient vehicles hit the road — along with electric cars and plug-in hybrids like the Chevy Volt, whose owners may buy a tank of gas every few months — road-building taxes will soon start falling.
Since 2008, Congress has been forced to kick in $52.8 billion to patch the sinkhole in the federal highway building fund; states have been forced to spend money from other sources or even turned rural roads from pavement back to gravel to keep maintenance costs down. The U.S. Government Accounting Office says over the next 10 years, the federal road jar will run $110 billion short without changes.
The favored answer of road engineers? Taxing by the mile driven. A handful of states — Oregon, Minnesota and Nevada — have already tested ways to use GPS and other electronics to adjust taxes. In the Nevada and Oregon tests, drivers had devices installed on their cars that sent data to special fuel pumps; those pumps automatically adjusted their fees based on how far the vehicles had driven, without revealing data that would amount to tracking drivers.
The GAO told Congress this week it should allow a similar test on electric vehicles and commercial trucks, and estimated that a pay-by-the-mile tax of 0.9 cents to 2.2 cents per mile designed to replace fuel taxes would raise a typical driver's costs from $98 to between $108 to $248.
But it's not the only answer to filling this financial sinkhole. Washington state lawmakers have put a flat fee of $100 a year on electric vehicles to make up for the gas taxes they don't generate, and Oregon lawmakers may follow suit. In Virgina, Gov. Bob McDonald has proposed abolishing the gas tax entirely, replacing it with a sales tax and a new $100 fee on "alternative fuel" cars and trucks. That idea has already drawn fire from critics who point out that it would make Virginians who never drive pay for roads while letting people who travel through the state do so for free.
Congress would need to act to create such a test, and there's many concerns about the privacy of giving the government unfettered access to drivers' odometers. But there's no signs on this highway to higher taxes of any off-ramp.
http://autos.yahoo.com/blogs/motoramic/why-americans-soon-pay-more-drive-every-mile-235604924.html |
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arof
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| Posted: Jan 11, 2013 1:41 pm Post subject: |
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It seems like a tough way of taxing which would be rife with manipulation and other problems. For instance, what happens if I drive out-of-state?
A few years back I calculated our tax on a per-litre basis:
HST = 0.1154
FET = 0.10
PGT = 0.147
Total tax = .3624/litre
Effective tax rate = 36.02%
Now our gas cost is hovering around $1.20/litre[/img]
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senorbueno
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Okie Boarder
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| Posted: Jan 11, 2013 1:59 pm Post subject: |
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For instance, what happens if I drive out-of-state?
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I would assume they would need to do this at a national level for it to work right, or have some sort of inter-state agreements.
senorbueno, I think that some sort of hybrid would probably be best. (That's what I meant by private "owned" and operated) For example, we have quite a few toll roads here in OK. Although they aren't technically privately owned, they do sell bonds from time to time to raise funds. Otherwise, they are completely self-sustaining from the monies they collect from tolls.
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Faust
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| Posted: Jan 11, 2013 2:26 pm Post subject: |
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The conspiracy theorist in me says:
1. This is due to the auto industry making improvements in fuel efficiency, and the soon-to-be common place 100 mpg cars.
and/or
2. This is so the government can track us. |
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nmballa
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| Posted: Jan 11, 2013 2:30 pm Post subject: |
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Oakie, I would think you would be very much against taxing per mile. This would most likely entail that the gov would need to track your movements. Opens up quite a few concerns regarding privacy.
I actually prefer the concept of taxing gas as it does really tax per mile, it just taxes gas gussellers at a higher rate than more economical cars. I prefer that the incentive to improve efficiency remain in place. A flat tax per mile removes this incentive.
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nmballa
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| Posted: Jan 11, 2013 2:32 pm Post subject: |
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Did you see how well that worked out in Chicago. Sold off the city parking to a private firm. Chicago now has the highest parking rates in the country.
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Faust
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| Posted: Jan 11, 2013 2:35 pm Post subject: |
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| I mean seriously, why don't they just bump up the gas tax a few cents. Last updated in 1993!?!?!? WTF, how much of my tax money are these dumbassses wasting on trying to develop this technology. |
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mgs917
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| Posted: Jan 11, 2013 2:45 pm Post subject: |
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| The government has already proved they can't run a balanced budget. They wil probably just squander all the extra money they bring in through either of these programs and still come up short when trying to fund the construction/upkeep of the roadways. |
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eeven73
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Joined: 16 Jan 2003
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City: Halfway
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| Posted: Jan 12, 2013 6:45 am Post subject: |
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| Faust wrote: | The conspiracy theorist in me says:
1. This is due to the auto industry making improvements in fuel efficiency, and the soon-to-be common place 100 mpg cars.
and/or
2. This is so the government can track us. |
1. is exactly the reason that fuel tax dollars are down. The advocates of this tax will tell you as much. Unintended consequences 101.
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Okie Boarder
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| Posted: Jan 12, 2013 8:56 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
This would most likely entail that the gov would need to track your movements.
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It can be done without the government tracking.
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A flat tax per mile removes this incentive.
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Many of the ideas floating out there wouldn't be a flat tax.
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Chicago now has the highest parking rates in the country.
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And this is solely due to privatizing? Or were the rates being held artificially low and being supplemented by other tax revenue anyway?
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I mean seriously, why don't they just bump up the gas tax a few cents. Last updated in 1993!?!?!?
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That may actually be a better solution. The only concern is whether they are being efficient with the spending.
As I said, our OK turnpikes are very well operated and do a great job of maintaining themselves. When you see the difference between "free" roads and the toll roads, it is drastic. I would support this type of concept for all roads.
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timmy
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| Posted: Jan 12, 2013 10:27 pm Post subject: |
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| It would have to be based on vehicle weight as well to be fair. Heavier vehicles put more wear and tear on road surfaces than light vehicles. |
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pyrocasto
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| Posted: Jan 13, 2013 9:08 pm Post subject: |
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Which is why typically taxing gas has been a decent idea. Heavier and larger vehicles wear the road out faster and require more gas. Sort of a way to tax by the mile and weight already.
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| eeven73 wrote: |
At least 50% of the population is retarded so I discount what they think or feel automatically. |
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