Oregon considers taxing mileage, not gas

Jonathon Ramsey — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 10:54:00 EST

Oregon ran a pilot program in 2006 and 2007 that fitted 300 cars with GPS receivers, which kept track of the cars' mileage. The receivers also kept records of when the cars were on the road, noting whether they traveled during rush hour or not. When the drivers went to several specially-equipped gas stations, they paid a mileage tax based on how far they had driven and when they drove, rush hour being more expensive than the wee hours.

Taxing mileage -- as opposed to trying to raise fuel taxes -- is an idea that's not only raising eyebrows, it's also raising interest. Seven other states are reported to be interested in finding a publicly-palatable way to tax mileage. A panel in North Carolina even recommended that drivers be charged a quarter-cent-per-mile for their year's driving. In such a scenario, after 15,000 miles you'd owe the state $37.50.

Naturally, the hurdles are many and it will be years before we see anything like this happening -- but beware: it's gone beyond "Let's think about it" to "Let's look into this." States envision working with manufacturers to get the standardized mileage-reporting technology installed in cars. In addition to the substantial privacy issues that would raised by such a move, there's a question of whether a flat mileage tax would blunt the move to energy-efficient vehicles -- the gent in the Prius might not be happy about paying the same as the gent in the F-250 Super Duty.

[Source: Yahoo!]

Oregon considers taxing mileage, not gas originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 04 Jan 2009 10:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oregon governor pursuing GPS-based mileage tax

Chris Shunk — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 07:29:00 EST

Filed under: Government/Legal

The gasoline tax has long been the method of choice for raising money for public road upkeep, but more fuel efficient cars are slowly eroding funds from the public coffers. Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski wants to keep road repair money flowing, so he's proposing the dreaded mileage tax. Opponents of the idea see a GPS-based solution as being an invasion of privacy, giving the government the ability to track where tax-payers go. However, the proposed system in Oregon doesn't track any travel points. Mileage is instead read whenever drivers fuel up, and a 1.2 cent per mile tax is levied. The program was tested in 2006 and 2007 with 300 motorists participating in the experiment.

Someone driving 12,000 miles per year would pay $144 in mileage tax. For comparison's sake, a 25 mpg vehicle driving 12,000 miles would pay $115 based on Oregon's current 0.24 cent per gallon tax. Kulongoski has no power to enforce a mileage tax, so he's relying on the Oregon legislature to make the tax law. Since it will take time to get all vehicles on the road equipped with a GPS device, the standard gas tax would remain in effect for the foreseeable future, with a possible two cent increase. Commuters equipped with a GPS system would receive a refund for gas taxes paid.

[Source: Gazette Times]

Oregon governor pursuing GPS-based mileage tax originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 31 Dec 2008 07:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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