State will test tax on mileage (Oregon)

[The Straight Story]

State will test tax on mileage

Published: November 20, 2004

By James Sinks

The Bulletin

SALEM — Oregon is preparing to test a mileage-tax system that sounded like science fiction just three years ago:

When cars wheel up to the gas pump, a short-range wireless signal will transmit an odometer reading to a receiver at the service station. And rather than adding taxes based on the gallons bought, taxes would be tacked onto the fuel bill based on the miles driven.

The Oregon Road User Fee Task Force on Friday laid out a timetable for a 280-vehicle pilot project that will start in November 2005, most likely in Eugene.

The state already collects taxes from heavy trucks based on the miles they travel, but has relied on gas taxes from passenger cars and light trucks to pay for road work.

Next year's experiment will be the equivalent of dipping a toe into a pool in which Oregon — and all governments that rely on fuel taxes — will end up eventually, said Jim Whitty, an Oregon Department of Transportation manager who is overseeing the project.

State lawmakers launched the task force in 2001.

rest here:
http://www.bendbulletin.com/news/story.cfm?story_no=14936

[benddem]

1. this really

p/o's me as I own a Prius. CRAP!!!

[Lone_Star_Dem]

2. How will this work for people that have to drive for their jobs?

Service workers (plumbers, AC/Heat, Electrical, etc.) that have to put mileage on to reach their jobs. It is in essence making it even harder for them to make a living. Many of these people are small business owners or self employed.

[Ms_Mary]

5. This covers me and other people in rural areas

If you are going anywhere, you're driving. There is no public transportation, no mass transit. It's 50 miles a day to work and back.

[cornermouse]

3. How would that work?

Seems to me that an indirect "result" would have to be that they could potentially track your location for a fill-up on an individual basis. Also potentially have a generalized idea of where you went. Maybe an extention of the Patriot Act?

Not that I go anywhere they would be interested in, but I don't think I care for this at all.

[tech3149]

4. Total horse hockey

So a 10 ton truck doesn't cause more wear to the roadway than a 1 ton Prius? How much will it cost to deploy and maintain the system? How many years to recover that investment? These people think too much and understand too little.

[alarimer]

6. Sounds like it punishes people who get good gas mileage

rather than who buys the most fuel. Seems unfair to me. I guess everyone should drive an SUV that gets 12 miles per gallon.

[CBGLuthier]

7. This sounds like a BS break for SUV owners

People who only get 5 to 15 miles per gallon will pay less in taxes than those who drive fuel efficient cars.

Now, I do understand that a certain portion of fuel taxes is for road maintenance, so there may be a valid argument for it but it still sounds like protecting a selfish class.

[AP]

8. It'll suck if you're poor and live far from work and there's no public

transportation.

[AP]

9. Psst. State need a PROGRESSIVE income tax, and they need to ENCOURAGE

energy efficient cars, which this doesn't do.

[depakid]

10. Forget rationailty

This is RED RED Republican America- anything goes... (especially if it helps the short term profits of right wing cronies).

[kostya]

14. Eugene, OR RED? LOL!!!

[elehhhhna]

11. IT'S A WAY TO JACK PEOPLE WHO GET GOOD MILEAGE

and lower gas taxes for the freakin SUV & Humvee drivers. Period.
Think about it. That's ALL this would accomplish, besides effing with a perfectly acceptabel tax-collection system.

[high density]

12. Does Oregon have an excise tax?

Because if it does, this sounds like a second excise tax.

[kostya]

15. No sales tax, just income tax and property taxes.

[Egalitariat]

13. This punishes people w/ high-efficiency cars....

Under the new system, I would pay the same amount for driving 100 miles on 2 gallons in a high-efficiency hybrid that some Pug would pay for driving the same 100 miles on 12 gallons in a Hummer.

It stinks, and I can't believe Oregon is the state doing this.

What if I fill up on the border to Washington, drive 500 miles in Washington, and then fill up again on the Oregon side of the line?

I've just paid taxes to Oregon and not used one inch of their roadway.

Stupid, just stupid.

[kostya]

16. The second part of your argument is irrelevant

What if I fill up on the border to Washington, drive 500 miles in Washington, and then fill up again on the Oregon side of the line?

I've just paid taxes to Oregon and not used one inch of their roadway.

It's the same situation if you are taxed by the mile or by the gallon, what's your point?

[Egalitariat]

18. If I fill up while I'm in Washington, paying taxes there...

and Oregon doesn't know that I've filled up elsewhere and taxes me for all the miles I drove btw Oregon fill-ups.

Then I've been double taxed. Once in Washington, once in Oregon.

That's my point.

[kostya]

17. People, go read the entire article, not just the excerpt

Lots of interesting issues raised including the ones being raised in your comments. They consider that a Prius and a Land Cruiser make the same impact on the "system". Obviously, they consider the system to be just the roads, not including the air we breathe.

They also want to couple it with GPS so they tax you only on certain road segments, only within the state, and also could penalize you for using congested roads during rush hours.

Shit! If this isn't Big Brother then I don't know the definition of the phrase. If they try to pass something like this in the legislature it will get referred to a vote of the people in a heartbeat and it won't pass.

- K

x(

[Viva_La_Revolution]

19. I run 2 trucks in OR and WA

Damn monthly mileage reports drive me crazy!. We write a check to ODOT every month for about $250 - $300 for fuel tax (this is just for OR miles, since we have no sales tax). We have to report how many miles driven in OR as a base for that. WA taxes the gas, so the tax is paid automatically. So many people commute from WA to OR for work and pleasure, this could really screw up the system more than it already is.

[PrisonerLazy8]

20. Oregon Big Brother can kiss my American ass

I'll rip any and all spyware from my vehicle before I let them track my driving habits. Screw them and their bogus extortion scheme.