State looks at per-mile tax for electric cars (to replace the gas taxes they won't be paying)

[The Straight Story]

State looks at per-mile tax for electric cars


SALEM -- State lawmakers are considering charging electric-vehicle owners for every mile they drive to replace the gas taxes they won't be paying.

The issue is a conflict between the desire to encourage electric vehicle purchases and the need to maintain the roads they drive on. A House committee will take up the legislation Friday and could vote on it.

'It's a fairness issue," said Sen. Bruce Starr, R-Hillsboro, a proponent of the bill. 'They're not paying any gas tax. Everyone else is paying, why should they get a free ride?"

Opponents say it's too early to tax electric vehicle use because the state should be doing everything it can to make nonpolluting vehicles attractive to buyers.

http://theworldlink.com/news/local/article_fd728de9-8d71-5eaf-84b5-5d9a5a7b2baa.html

[Auggie]

1. Bet you Starr gets a car allowance

[DJ13]

2. I wonder if the genesis for this stupid idea comes from big oil?

Nothing would slow adoption of electric vehicles faster than imposing a tax on their use.

[ixion]

3. A great example of the government trying to squash renewables

Fairness? Free ride? Please. :eyes:

[Davis_X_Machina]

6. The tax advantages....

...for hybrids and electric cars are the only reason why they're on the road at all.

The left hand giveth, the right hand taketh away.

[Luminous Animal]

13. Gas taxes haven't quashed use of the combustion engine.

[Davis_X_Machina]

22. They're not high enough, yet, then.

Pigou is your friend.

[ixion]

24. Do you think it might be because our ENTIRE socio-economic model is built around it?

Perhaps?

[Drale]

4. A tax like that would be uncollectable

its like the "Usage" tax Illinois has now. They want people to report "big" purchases on the internet, so you can pay taxes on them. No one is ever going to report it.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

7. Unless: Every car MUST have a meter!

[drm604]

9. Every car does have a meter.

It's called an odometer.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

15. And now it'll (potentially) be monitored.

[drm604]

25. They already check my milage every year

when they do the state inspection.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

26. And then they do what with it?

More likely for depreciation purposes than appreciation purposes.

The shifting tax code. I know which way this one (potentially) goes.

[Vincardog]

5. Aren't these the same 'people' who want to give our bought an paid for roads to private companies

to charge us tolls on?

[KittyWampus]

8. Assholes are also taxing Wind Farms.

[msongs]

10. so electric are users should use public roads and contribute nothing to pay for them. ok nt

[The Straight Story]

11. Simple, tax electric usage more and use it for roads

:)

[Luminous Animal]

12. So far, everyone on this thread is against it but not one alternative to collecting

taxes to maintain our transportation infrastructure. I think it is a good idea. I would also propose an annual vehicle weight tax. The heavier the vehicle (thus more damage to roads) the higher the tax.

[DJ13]

16. The freight companies arent taxed to match the damage done by their heavy trucks

Start there.

[Curmudgeoness]

29. Well, yes they are. The license fees are higher, they buy

a lot of fuel, and it is taxed. They have to pay IFTA taxes to distribute diesel taxes fairly to the states they are driving through. Tolls are much higher on toll roads for trucks.

They do pay a lot of taxes to use the roads.

[Cirque du So-What]

17. No argument from me

Some posts look like they'd be more at home on LibertarianUnderground.com. A civilized society needs taxes to finance the things that cannot or will not get paid for by individuals or corporations...and therein lies a large part of present-day problems: giving the rich & corporations a pass on paying their fair share.

[Armstead]

20. Support worthy goals in their early stages

The point in all renewable is to make it financially feasible and competitive with other energy sources. Right now a big problem is that they are much more expensive, which stifles demand for them.

There are not presently enough users of electric cars tpo put much of a damper on gas tax revenues. If a tax-break subsidy is needed for a while to create as market and make it as practical as fossil fuels, then it would be appropriate to ewait before imposing a tax of some kind.

[apocalypsehow]

35. This is what I tried to say below, only not near as well and with less clarity. Excellent post!

:thumbsup:

[Armstead]

18. It's simple, wait until there are enough to make a difference and they are accepted widely

Makes more sense than killing it in its cradle.

[DJ13]

21. +1

Electric cars are (and will continue to be for a long time) few in numbers, and with one of the primary design requirements being light in weight they wont contribute significantly to any road damage until the majority of vehicles are electric.

This tax proposal runs counter to the supposed 'green' movement our party is supposed to represent.

[stockholmer]

27. 1% Tobin Tax on all financial transactional turnover (with a first $1 million a year exemption)

[apocalypsehow]

33. I'm afraid it will only discourage the purchase of electric vehicles to cut down on carbon emissions

My thinking is that since we both simultaneously want to discourage the burning of fossil fuels and encourage alternate, green modes of transport, that we actually increase the gas tax and allow the fact that folks don't pay that tax in their electric cars as a further incentive to go electric.

I think your idea of an annual vehicle tax would not be an equitable way of raising revenue. I would much prefer to see all roads go Toll rather than that - even major city arteries. A one time excise tax at time of purchase for a vehicle (yes I realize most states already have a form of this targeted to other needs, just thinking out loud), based upon the projected lifetime mileage of any given vehicle might be more equitable.

And here's how it could be structured to avoid doing the very thing I talked about wanting to avoid doing (discouraging the move to electric) above: waive the tax for first time buyers of electric vehicles, and if the percentage of electric cars on the road ever approaches 50%, slowly phase the tax in for all vehicles, gas, electric, steam, etc.

Some parts of this proposal may not be workable, I know, but we must encourage electric in any way we can.

[former9thward]

14. Who is going to pay for road upkeep?

Of course they should be taxed. They are getting a free ride.

[KittyWampus]

31. The cars running on the already heavily subsidized petroleum

[former9thward]

36. Electric cars are also subsidized.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303348504575184261386174090.html So now they want a free ride too. Always want someone else to pay the taxes but not them.

[KT2000]

19. why is everyone against this?

gas taxes pay for the roads, cleaning slides from roads etc. In Washington it pays for all kinds of transportation, such as ferries. Alternative fuel vehicles still use the roads and use ferries.

[KittyWampus]

30. Because clean fuel cars contribute to society and need to be encouraged. We exempt things from taxes

And give tax breaks to encourage behaviors.

So the question is- why don't you and a few other DU'ers want to encourage clean fuel cars using the tax code?

[KT2000]

34. because there isn't enough

money to pay for roads and related infrastructure as it is. If there is a loss in revenue because of alternative fuel cars that are allowed to not contribute to those costs - where is the money supposed to come from? The needs have not decreased.

[tinrobot]

42. We already do encourage electric vehicles via the tax code

We already have a $7500 federal tax credit for buying an electric vehicle. Some states add as much as $5000 on top of that. Some utilities actually discount the price of electrical power for vehicle chargers.

If these incentives work as planned, we'll have a lot more electric cars, all of which will use public roads. We'll still have to pay for those roads, so I suspect that taxes like this will become inevitable.

[Hutzpa]

23. This attitude of free ride

is what prevented Obama from completely accomplishing the Health Care.

There are Americans who feels that it is perfectly okay for the less
fortunate to suffer while they lavish in wealth, it is this attitude
that is driving us down the ditch.

[JCMach1]

28. Better idea, raise the gas tax stupid!

Plus it's better for the environment.

[HubertHeaver]

37. Yes, raise the gas tax to make alternatives more attractive.

The new technology is the desirable technology.

[DJ13]

39. Raising gas taxes doesnt make alternatives more attractive

It just further impoverishes the poor, who cant afford to move to alternatives.

[eilen]

32. With gas prices as high as they are

I think the state is getting plenty of sales tax from our purchases to be concerned with hybrids. What's next, a bicycle tax?

[Tikki]

38. What State is this...Oregon eh?..Scratch them off our Vacation list...

We want our grandchildren to know we made the correct choice for their future and didn't back down.


The Tikkis

[robinlynne]

40. a fucking fairness issue? Then there is one Saudi King who should be

paying to clean up all of the air and water in our country. Roads? tax one of the billionaires. just one. That should be enough to maintain the roads throughout the nation....

[kelly1mm]

41. Way more than 1 billion per year is spent on road maintainence. In 2002,

just for the National Highway System (the interstate system, a small percentage of overall road miles) maintainence costs were over 70 billion dollars. Here is a link to the info from DOT:

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policy/2002cpr/ch24.htm

[DirkGently]

43. Er. They should get a "free ride" because they're cutting pollution & fuel consumption?

[Shagbark Hickory]

44. That is truly awful. Reading that makes me want to cry. Seriously, what next? Tax bicycles?

Anything but making the top 1 % pay their fair share.

[Fla_Democrat]

45. Sure, when they start making 1500lb bicycles

Even the Volt.. with a curb weight of 3,781 lb has to do some damage to the road... dontcha think?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_Volt










:smoke:

[Shagbark Hickory]

47. OK maybe when 75% of the cars on the road are electric. But we need to encourage people to make the

switch. Thugs are supposed to be anti-tax. They obviously are looking out for the oil companies.

[Fla_Democrat]

48. and the road repairs untill

75% of the cars are electric? :shrug:

[Shagbark Hickory]

49. Property taxes, commerical vehicles, ad velorum (car tax) -> I know you don't have that in FL but

just about everyone else does.

[Initech]

46. Tax the wealthy elite instead.