Ouch: Oregon to Implement A Mileage Tax?
Hi All,
Being that Oregon is our home state, this press story caught our eye.
Evidently Oregon Governor Kulongoski is considering implementing a duty on mileage due to declining gasoline tax revenue. The plan calls for global positioning units to be installed on all cars, this would then allow a mileage tax to be levied based on the distance one traveled.
As always the best part of controversial stories like this are the comments.
Click here to go to the story.
Update: The AP has now picked up on this also.
Best,
James
Stumble It!
9 comments:
Is this for real, can they do that? Forcing you to install GPS on your car seems wrong on so many levels. I wonder what the cost to do that would be?
To add my two cents worth in -
I'm all for taxes that are associated with actual use of the road versus just paying roads from general tax revenue. I think there are some innovative uses out there but I think this plan still needs some revisions.
First you should exempt out of state drivers, Oregon already doesn't have sales tax so it relies more on citizens for property taxes than other states that have high sales taxes. I also think that the GPS tracking will only annoy people.
I like the system in Singapore where you pay for driving on a type of debit card and are also discouraged from driving in congested areas at peak traffic times.
Being a non driver I'd rather just pay for what I use even if I did have a car.
Best,
Miel
Wow.........
Here's an idea to raise tax revenues: LOWER TAXES! It's amazing how so many in government do not understand how tax revenue works. They should read The End of Prosperity by Arthur Laffer, Stephen Moore, and Peter Tanous.
The government has no right to track where we drive or how much we drive. I don't think this plan needs some revisions, I think it needs to be thrown out entirely!
-DC
David Carlson Politics
As someone who drives nearly 30K miles a year I don't like the idea. I have a long commute because I am caring for an elderly parent, and this is the last thing I need.
Adding a GPS to the car is silly and expensive. Why not just make mileage verification part of the license renewal process and bill people quarterly? Go in, get a reading, go in the following year, get another reading, based on usage they can send out estimated bills quarterly and settle up when you get your reading at your renewal the following year.
Not that I am advocating doing any of this, but it would make people drive less.
Hi All,
This is James of the DINKS. In this case, I'm in agreement with David Carlson.
It would be far better to lower taxes in Oregon, thus stimulating economic growth and increasing government receipts.
Also, there are serious implications regarding the propriety of having GPS based tracking system. - How does one know the technology won't be abused?
Also, there are also larger philosophic implications of such a system. Similar tracking devices such as ankle bracelets or "breathalizer" based ignition systems (the kind you have to blow in to prove you're not drunk before the car will start) are used for people who are criminals. So, the implication is that surveillance systems are really only philosophically appropriate for criminals.
Yes, its a bad idea. A better idea would be slash income taxes or reduce the size of government to match its expenses.
Thanks.
James,
Glad to see your in agreement. I like everything you said, especially how the technology could be abused. If it can be abused, rest assured, it will be abused sooner or later.
Also what I thought when i read this:
"Yes, its a bad idea. A better idea would be slash income taxes or reduce the size of government to match its expenses. "
I thought, "or both." : )
Happy New Years DINKS
-DC
David Carlson Politics
As someone who lives in Oregon and commutes 70 miles each day, I am deeply saddened that this ever made it out of the concept phase. There is no actual tracking that takes place (according to the plan, although the potential for abuse is definitely there), just a measurement of total distance. As Michele said, a simple mileage verification system would seem much simpler. Things, however, get worse. The reason Oregon started looking into the alternative tax system was because they started seeing a drop in revenue due to hybrid cars.
Oregon has a well respected weight mile tax on commercial trucks that helps make the trucks that do the most damage to the roads pay the highest taxes. In effect, the current gas tax does a similar thing, by charging more for cars with lower gas mileage (such as heavy personal trucks, etc.). Things break down somewhat though with hybrids... imagine two people who buy new Cadillac Escalades; one hybrid, one standard, the hybrid driver would pay less taxes than the driver of the standard, even though the hybrid is heavier. There has always been some disparity because high performance cars that get lower gas mileage pay more in taxes than similar weight economy cars (like my '93 Sentra).
I can't believe how many commenters are content to a mileage tax. Aren't you people sick and tired yet of more and more taxes? Not to mention the invasion of privacy with GPS!
If revenue is down because of gas use being down, then the highways are being used less...not more. We are already paying a road tax when we purchase fuel...and then there is one thing about government when they talk about money shortfalls...they never consider reducing the size of government!
No...they just want to keep getting more bloated and spending money on what projects they feel is necessary and all the while they keep devising ways to get the poor broken down tax payers to foot the bill. I would expect to see nothing less than an armed uprising if they tried to force motorists to have GPS installed for the reason of raping more tax out of the poor working man.
I actually think it's absurd that federal and state fuel taxes are as low as they are. Forget GPS tracking which would be costly and an invasion of privacy. Slap a 50% to 100% tax on gas and tax revenues will surge even if people drive less -- and they will also continue to seek cars with better fuel economy. By the way, we would still have cheaper gas than most/all comparable countries (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petrol_prices). If we had this for the last 15 years, the market would have demanded fuel-sipping cars in the 90's and Detroit wouldn't be begging for money!
In terms of this proposal, taxing based on miles is absurd simply because it penalizes the guy driving the 60 mpg car as much as the guy driving the 10 mpg car.. not the right message to send!
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