One of the Worst Bad Ideas Ever - Oregon Per Mile Tax

[Big D A12]

This is a topic to which I am very close. I will probably be the only dissenting voice in this post.

A tax on gas or mileage is a user fee. The more you use the more you pay. Roads and bridges are the venue that vehicles use to expend the gas or miles and need to maintained, replaced or upgraded. As cars become more effecient (higher mpg), less dollars are being generated to cover the cost of transportation systems which continue to rise.

This debate shouldn't be about how the user fee is collected, but how it is managed. A poorly run goverment entity (liberal) will see the transportation fund as a bucket of money that can be utilized for things other than transportation. My favorite is the transportation fund should pay for schools since buses have to use roads??? Look at your property tax bill and tell me what you pay for your local school? Anyone with children in the public (government) school system knows how well that is managed. That is another discussion.

Since the transportation fund (where all of the taxes we are talking about go) has a somewhat constant revenue stream, state governments love to bond and raid the fund to get money to pay for other programs. It is a never ending downward spiral on funding that is propagated by robbing Peter to pay Paul. In the end no one makes the tough decision to do what is right for the taxpayers and only worries about getting re-elected.

Instead of just compaining about it, what can be done? Here in Wisconsin all of the scenarios above have happened or are happening. You probably have similar situations where you are living. Last November we passed a constitutional amendment protecting the transportation fund from raids for programs other than roads. The user fee now will only get used for what it is intended! It is currently a gas tax that is insufficient to support our present transportation system.

OK, back to the debate on how the user fee should be collected. I am in favor of the cost per mile scenario. It guarantees those who use the road are paying their fair share regardless of the vehicle driven. As for the privacy concern. Do you use a cell phone? Big brother can find you very quickly. It is already here and not going to go away in the future. We just have to live with it. I didn't say like it, just live with it.

So, the next time you are driving and find yourself complaining about how crappy the roads are, think about how your local government is managing the money they have to work with. Make sure you vote and know what you are voting for. Transportation drives a states economy.

D

 

[Bruzilla]

Guess you all have already forgot about the healthcare mess that has been thrust upon us by some other do gooder to decrease healthcare cost. See where that got us with hardly affordable health care that covers almost nothing. Now you would be willing to do the same with auto insurance. No way

Actually, I'm remembering the auto insurance mess we've been in long before the healthcare mess. Down here in FL, like many states, there was a huge problem with auto accidents resulting in lawsuits. The fix was to pass a law that mandated everyone get PIP and liability coverage, and the law stated since everyone had PIP and liability you could not be sued after an accident.

The problems started when the personal injury lawyers realized they were losing a major portion of their business, so they kept pushing the state legislature to make amendments to the law to allow lawsuits for this or that situations, and now we have a system where we still must pay for PIP and Liability coverage and we can get sued for any accident that happens, which utterly destroys the whole purpose of the PIP/Liability law.

Fortunately, there was a sundown provision on the law, and it was initially allowed to end, but the same lawyers who opposed the law because they initially couldn't file lawsuits fought to bring it back because there's no pint in filing lawsuits unless people have money to get and they wanted to at least be able to to get their PIP and Liability payouts. So our pathetic excuse for a governor, Charlie Crist, who later became an ambulance chaser himself, reversed the sundown and reinstated the law. So once again, we're paying sky high PIP and Liability rates and you're likely going to get sued after an accident.

Frankly, I don't see how this situation could be made worse by going to a fuel tax-funded system where everyone pays in.

 

[Roger63]

Everyone is paying in when they buy fuel. I pay approximately $20, 000 annually, everything I am reading says in the transportation industry news is that early estimates are stating that if every state follows Oregon that fuel tax costs will rise 30% that will be passed on to the consumer. With over 8 million class 8 semi'son the road it doesn't take long to add the zero's. Better management is most definitely needed. Here in okie land the highway fund is raped on a steady consistent basis. By both sides of the aisle.

 

[coronet340]

Health care ins vs auto ins is apples and oranges.

I have never heard of a case where the flu or a broken bone was a hit and run.

Every day in our city of over 1 million, 2 million if the GMA is considered, there are tons of hit and runs or collisions with people that do not have auto insurance. Even though it is a state law. Hell half of them don't even have drivers licenses. BUT every single one of them runs off a petroleum product. If insurance was part of the cost at the gas station, then everyone would have it, and you only pay for what you need. More miles means more chances of a collision, more miles means more spent on gas/ins. apples.

Healthcare isn't a situation where this could occur. oranges.

 

[tanis4457]

This is a topic to which I am very close. I will probably be the only dissenting voice in this post.

A tax on gas or mileage is a user fee. The more you use the more you pay. Roads and bridges are the venue that vehicles use to expend the gas or miles and need to maintained, replaced or upgraded. As cars become more effecient (higher mpg), less dollars are being generated to cover the cost of transportation systems which continue to rise.

This debate shouldn't be about how the user fee is collected, but how it is managed. A poorly run goverment entity (liberal) will see the transportation fund as a bucket of money that can be utilized for things other than transportation. My favorite is the transportation fund should pay for schools since buses have to use roads??? Look at your property tax bill and tell me what you pay for your local school? Anyone with children in the public (government) school system knows how well that is managed. That is another discussion.

Since the transportation fund (where all of the taxes we are talking about go) has a somewhat constant revenue stream, state governments love to bond and raid the fund to get money to pay for other programs. It is a never ending downward spiral on funding that is propagated by robbing Peter to pay Paul. In the end no one makes the tough decision to do what is right for the taxpayers and only worries about getting re-elected.

Instead of just compaining about it, what can be done? Here in Wisconsin all of the scenarios above have happened or are happening. You probably have similar situations where you are living. Last November we passed a constitutional amendment protecting the transportation fund from raids for programs other than roads. The user fee now will only get used for what it is intended! It is currently a gas tax that is insufficient to support our present transportation system.

OK, back to the debate on how the user fee should be collected. I am in favor of the cost per mile scenario. It guarantees those who use the road are paying their fair share regardless of the vehicle driven. As for the privacy concern. Do you use a cell phone? Big brother can find you very quickly. It is already here and not going to go away in the future. We just have to live with it. I didn't say like it, just live with it.

So, the next time you are driving and find yourself complaining about how crappy the roads are, think about how your local government is managing the money they have to work with. Make sure you vote and know what you are voting for. Transportation drives a states economy.

D

I agree with your statement on founding out how well the money is being managed, that would be the best way to develop a plan and move forward. Is the state/local government hiring contractors that are owed a favor or are the best for the job? Do they do quality work? Is the project being done with cheaper materials that don't last as long? Is the transportation fund being raided for other unfunded programs? If a majority of the money is being spent wisely and towards the types of projects it's intended for and the government is still coming up short, well then that's when everything needs to be re-evaluated.

I remember seeing a news story about a month ago, where the state of Washington was talking about an idea where they charged you on a per mile basis but collected your miles driven once a year, probably when your tabs would be due. They would compare the difference between the current year and last year's odometer and charge accordingly. I have a few mechanic friends who said they would buy spare odometer clusters and install them before getting it checked, haha.

 

[Budnicks]

Not all of Washington is Liberal , the Eastern half of Washington is primarily
conservative farm and orchard land. We are just out populated by the liberal West side.

Just like when you get away from the coastal/inner-shity regions in Calif.
it's mostly conservative too, much like middle America

Unfortunately the big-shity's masses, living in the concrete & asphalt jungles,
all on-top of each other, they have the #'s that make the rest of the coastal states,
ALL look bad or liberal...

 

[J5 GTX]

The program is meant to help the state raise more revenue to pay for road and bridge projects at a time when money generated from gasoline taxes are declining across the country, in part, because of greater fuel efficiency and the increasing popularity of fuel-efficient, hybrid and electric cars.

First, can they prove that? Do they have the data to back that up or is it a convenient excuse?
I am not saying the per mile tax is wrong, just that any time the government makes a claim they need to back it up.

The idea about using fuel taxes to fund liability insurance. Hmmm. A couple of years ago, drivers in NC got hit with an insurance fee above and beyond our regular premiums. The amount of the fee was based on level of coverage the policy holder had. The purpose of the fee was to make up for insurance pay outs due to accidents caused by non-insured drivers. (illegal immigrants driving cars and wrecking, mostly)

There is very little accountability in government. The NC Dems. underhandly snuck in the Education Lottery here. "It's for our children, to improve their educations", was what they touted.
They raided that fund to meet the difference in a Medicare shortfall. (tuff beans kids) We have a .53 cent/gallon gas tax (includes Federal), 50% of certain fines and fees, statewide, go to fund schools. I have had my county property taxes raised 5 times in about 12 years and they are proposing an increase this year. .29cents/1000$. There seems to be no end to the tax monster.
I guess I didn't answer the original question but, my answer is; when you vote, vote with knowledge.