The Future of Gasoline Tax: Taxing Mileage

We are all used to high gas prices, not that we like it. Now, in the midst of country wide financial turmoil, carmakers failing, and Americans losing their jobs, the National Commission on Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing wants to raise the federal gas tax.

The group says that drivers have changed their habits and are now driving less. In turn, that means less gas is being purchased, and now there is less money available for road and bridge repairs, which is what the federal gas tax income is used for.

The commission is expected to ask for a federal gas tax raise of as much as 10 cents per gallon for gas, and up to 15 cents per gallon of diesel. The federal gas tax has not changed since 1993.

Here in Pennsylvania we pay nearly 1/3 the cost of a gallon of gas in taxes. The average, currently, is $1.50 per gallon. The Pennsylvania state tax is 31 cents per gallon, and the current federal tax per gallon is 18 cents.

Just as we were getting some relief from gas prices they are going to possibly raise the taxes. Although I am against a gas tax raise as of right now, the alternative may be much worse.

The alternative: Taxing Gas Mileage. This is not only an extreme invasion of privacy, but wrong in so many other ways.

There are a number of states already exploring the options in taxing drivers based on the number of miles they drive, as opposed to the amount of gas they use. Oregon has even installed 300 GPS devices in vehicles as part of their own mileage tax concept.

Why would they want to tax mileage? More than ten years ago the worry was brought forth that with the more fuel efficient cars emerging the gas tax would not cover the upkeep of roads and bridges.

Congress has already talked about a system of its own, similar to the one in Oregon, nearly three years ago.

Governors in Idaho and Rhode Island have already been public about considering the use of systems that would require car owners to report their mileage when registering their vehicles. A panel in North Carolina has suggested charging drivers a quarter of a cent for each mile they drive in substitution for the gas tax. Other states that have talked of new taxes, or new ways to tax, are Colorado, Florida, Minnesota, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.

Raising the gas tax or taxing mileage right now is one of the worst ideas I have ever heard of. If you have ever been to Pennsylvania you know we have a saying here: There are 4 seasons in Pennsylvania just like there are everywhere else. We have Construction Season, Almost Winter, Winter, and Still Winter. Again, if you have ever been to Pennsylvania, you know that our roads here are pretty bad and lacking proper upkeep.

Still, our state, our country is in an entire state of turmoil. The government, both state and federal, needs money to fix our roads. The people, the drivers, need money to upkeep their vehicles. Raising more taxes, gas or otherwise, is not the answer.

Not that I have ever trusted the government, although I am not a conspiracy theorist, but we have to look at the facts and the past. Drivers have been offered steep tax breaks on their income tax returns for purchasing Hybrid Vehicles in that tax year. We have been encouraged to purchase these cars, and other fuel-efficient vehicles, for years. We have been told by doing this we can do our small part in helping the environment.

A few years ago most of Pennsylvania (maybe all counties now) had adopted an emission inspection law. When we have our yearly vehicle inspections we have also had to have an emissions test. If our vehicle failed, it was deemed illegal. Thus forcing us to have more environmentally friendly vehicles. (All environmental arguments aside here please.)

As long as I can remember we have had to report our mileage as it is currently on our odometer with each registration renewal each year. While I have never thought much of it before, I do now. I pay my gas tax, I paid the tax on my car when I bought it, and it is not the business of the state to know how much I drive in a year.

I have also seen a gas-guzzler tax, of $1000, on a new high performance car. It has been said that all vehicles that average less than a certain amount of miles per gallon have some sort of gas-guzzler tax.

All of these facts together are not only ridiculous, but also hypocritical. We are encouraged to buy more efficient, more environment friendly, vehicles but now tax us because we get better gas mileage. Those who deviated from the suggestion and bought large SUV's were disciplined with a gas-guzzler tax, and the obvious high cost of travel considering their gas mileage is poor. Now tax them yet again based on mileage.

This is not a good way to encourage the purchase of better mileage and environmentally friendlier vehicles, and it is outright idiotic. You may as well hand everyone a coupon toward the purchase of the largest SUV with the poorest gas mileage because they are going to pay for it anyway, one way or another.

Many people across the country travel far distances each and every day to work. It is a reality that in many areas, especially small towns, in order to make ends meet you have to travel a good hour or more to find decent paying employment. Again, punish those people for having to drive further to work, even if they do own the newest hybrid with the best fuel efficiency.

There has to be a better way. We can spend billions of dollars monthly overseas. We can spend billions of dollars rewarding failed companies. But, we cannot find a way to fix our roads without driving the American working person even deeper into debt?

I am not sure how anyone thinks this is going to help things. The price of gas goes up, people stop driving when they didn't have to. Now punish them for trying to save that money, that money that may have gone toward the electric bill that was about to be shut off.

Mr. Government: keep spending billions on those who don't deserve it, we are going to pay you back in taxes anyway. The rest of us will soak up these unbelievable taxes, and live on Ramen Noodles for the next few years. Meanwhile, try to figure out the mess the entire country is in. While you are doing that, the normal people, those of us just barely getting by, will fall deeper and deeper into debt. Our credit will get worse, and even with a new found high paying job we will not qualify for even the highest interest rate car and home loans. And eventually, another recession as the common consumer cannot afford the 'finer things of life'. But, that is okay; at least the rich won't have to worry about hitting a pothole in their Ferrari or Lamborghini. That is, after all, what really matters.

sources:

http://www.wgal.com/news/18399885/detail.html

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/MILEAGE_TAX?SITE=PAPOE&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT