States looking for ways to repair roads without raise gas tax

[freeatlast]

Several states are exploring ways of taxing motorists based on the number of miles driven...
http://fuelfix.com/blog/2012/06/06/states-looking-for-ways-to-repair-roads-without-raise-gas-tax/

 

[Gina B]

That doesn't sound simple or logical, despite what he said!

If we could stop stupid spending by the government, our taxes could be put to better use.

Why hasn't any President ever run (and won) on the platform of "I WILL PRIORITIZE!"

Excuse me, I have to go write to some people who are up for the run. LOL

 

[InTheLight]

IF they eliminate the gas tax this might make sense.

IF they can figure out an easy way to record mileage it might make sense.

Unless electric cars become huge sellers we don't need a mileage based tax. Adjust the gas tax.

 

[exscentric]

In OR they have raised our license vehicle fees three times now always saying it is to repair the roads/bridges, but they never repair things. In fact they took 80 million plus of it to refurb their main building in the captial when they could have torn it down and built a new one for forty mill.

They do what they want for any reason they can dream up and it matters little what the voter wants.

They have been running test programs here already.

It is because people are driving less/buying economy cars so their incoming tax funds are dropping and they need to find a way to fill the gap.

Bottom line is the bottom line and it alone.

 

[freeatlast]

It is a BAD idea. This is a way for the government to track you where ever you are and just another step closer to a military state. All they have to do, and they know it, is raise the tax prices on a gal of fuel, but this is a cover-up to keep track of people.

 

[InTheLight]

It is a BAD idea. This is a way for the government to track you where ever you are....this is a cover-up to keep track of people.

Supposing they didn't use GPS and instead had an odometer reading every time you renewed your vehicle license tabs? In between readings you had to enter your odometer mileage at the gas pump at least 4 times per year (once per every three months) and then it had to reconcile with the annual reading? You would be billed for your mileage tax four times per year.

 

[Gina B]

In OR they have raised our license vehicle fees three times now always saying it is to repair the roads/bridges, but they never repair things. In fact they took 80 million plus of it to refurb their main building in the captial when they could have torn it down and built a new one for forty mill.

They do what they want for any reason they can dream up and it matters little what the voter wants.

They have been running test programs here already.

It is because people are driving less/buying economy cars so their incoming tax funds are dropping and they need to find a way to fill the gap.

Bottom line is the bottom line and it alone.

A very short time before I moved from Oregon around four years ago, I wrote a few articles that involved the upcoming impact of the loss of Federal Timber payments, which Clinton had already (kindly) extended beyond what was deserved.

The counties that didn't prepare for that loss set themselves up for economic collapse. Residents weren't getting that by voting no on raised taxes on anything and everything wasn't helping them...the money has to come from SOMEWHERE, but with no planning, sounds like everyone was just too dependent on the O&E funding and didn't think about turning to different industries to make up for the losses in timber money.

And yeah, I think some of the money was already being held with a tight fist and there was/is some level of wrong and misappropriation of funds going on, but that can happen anywhere. However, Oregon isn't in a position to be able to afford a single penny of that happening.

My point? People in Oregon really need to step up and get involved in what's going on. One city at a time, not at higher levels. Weed out what's going on at the local level, move onto the higher ones after that.

There are some awesome people and some good hearts out there. (can you tell I really like Oregon?!) There really are, but I'd love to see people step up and pay attention and start supporting the good ones. Oregon is a great place that has a lot to offer. It makes me sad to see all that potential and so much of it lost because people aren't grasping that they can get so much more involved than they are, that they do make a difference when they step up. Oregon still has that potential for the residents to be able to make positive changes, which isn't true in all states. Or at least not nearly as easy in a lot of other states...

Hopefully this will happen. I know a lot of people there want to fight industrialization, they don't want factories and such, but they've also just tried to fight it without having something else in mind, and that simply won't work. Something has to replace the timber mills, you can't just lose a main source of cash flow and still be okay.

*sigh*

Hoping the Oregon economy finds a way to perk up while still keeping that state the free and beautiful place that it is.

 

[freeatlast]

Supposing they didn't use GPS and instead had an odometer reading every time you renewed your vehicle license tabs? In between readings you had to enter your odometer mileage at the gas pump at least 4 times per year (once per every three months) and then it had to reconcile with the annual reading? You would be billed for your mileage tax four times per year.

I think that would be acceptable in eliminating government spying, but it would also be stupid since we already have a system in place which is tax per gallon, but what is new about that and our legislators being totally out to lunch when it comes to running the government.
First having to pay every few months or even once a year instead of every time we get gas opens the door for tax fraud and people not saving enough to pay the gas taxes. The whole idea no matter how it is implemented is simply another bureaucratic debacle. We already have a system that works well, Just raise the tax amount on a gal and stop all the added expenses of implementing a new system and get all the money without having to set up another system like income taxes which is another tax drain on the people..

 

[billwald]

Put a tonnage fee on all vehicles.

Out here, banning studded tires would cut repair costs in half.

If the load limit per square inch of tire area was cut in half and enforced freeway surfaces would last 4 times longer.

If, in metro areas, two inches of blacktop was put over a concrete roadway then it would be easy to scrape off the asphalt, recycle it and repave when necessary. The underlying concrete and rebar should last 100 years or more.

 

[freeatlast]

Put a tonnage fee on all vehicles.

Out here, banning studded tires would cut repair costs in half.

If the load limit per square inch of tire area was cut in half and enforced freeway surfaces would last 4 times longer.

If, in metro areas, two inches of blacktop was put over a concrete roadway then it would be easy to scrape off the asphalt, recycle it and repave when necessary. The underlying concrete and rebar should last 100 years or more.

:laugh::laugh::laugh:

 

[InTheLight]

Just raise the tax amount on a gal and stop all the added expenses of implementing a new system and get all the money without having to set up another system like income taxes which is another tax drain on the people..[/FONT]

What do you do when electric cars are more prevalent? Supposing half the cars on the road are electric and/or hybrids. Then what?

 

[freeatlast]

What do you do when electric cars are more prevalent? Supposing half the cars on the road are electric and/or hybrids. Then what?

That is never going to happen at least not in anyone's lifetime on this board. Those things are dead on delivery. However hypothetically speaking if they did come about then the tax could be added to the charging system just like paying at the pump now.

 

[billwald]

It would take an additional nuke plant or equivalent for every metro area.

 

[InTheLight]

That is never going to happen at least not in anyone's lifetime on this board. Those things are dead on delivery. However hypothetically speaking if they did come about then the tax could be added to the charging system just like paying at the pump now.

Never? (Never say never.) By 2020 some estimates put about 50% of the vehicles in Israel will be electric. The plan is to have battery stations where the battery is swapped out, no wait times for charging.

 

[TC]

Never? (Never say never.) By 2020 some estimates put about 50% of the vehicles in Israel will be electric. The plan is to have battery stations where the battery is swapped out, no wait times for charging.

Israel is very small compared to the U.S. and they may have the infrastructure in place by then, but we won't. Some large metropolitan areas might, but we who live way out in the sticks probably won't see the needed infrastructure for decades.

When/if it gets to that point, then we just charge the equivalent tax when the batteries are exchanged. Personally, I would rather pay a few cents extra per gallon every time I fill up than to have to record mileage to report at the end of the year and then have to save for the bill that will be due.

 

[freeatlast]

Never? (Never say never.) By 2020 some estimates put about 50% of the vehicles in Israel will be electric. The plan is to have battery stations where the battery is swapped out, no wait times for charging.

This is about now and our government doing another stupid unnecessary tax system when we already one that works. Just raise the amount on what we already pay.

 

[freeatlast]

Israel is very small compared to the U.S. and they may have the infrastructure in place by then, but we won't. Some large metropolitan areas might, but we who live way out in the sticks probably won't see the needed infrastructure for decades.

When/if it gets to that point, then we just charge the equivalent tax when the batteries are exchanged. Personally, I would rather pay a few cents extra per gallon every time I fill up than to have to record mileage to report at the end of the year and then have to save for the bill that will be due.

:thumbs::thumbs::thumbs:

 

[HankD]

Require the installation of a taxi meter in every vehicle.

While you're at it require a video camera to check up on cell phone users, texters, drunks, etc...

Hey, might as well go all the way and record the audio as well to see who is saying bad things about Big Brother.

HankD

 

[LadyEagle]

Gee, wouldn't it be nice if our federal government quit sending our tax dollars overseas to countries who hate us and quit rebuilding their mosques (US State Dept under "historical sites") and quit building infrastructure in Afghanistan and other places and start rebuilding our own infrastructure? Most of what we pay at the pump now for each gallon is TAX!! Why do we need more TAXES or ways to hurt the working class?

Oh, and by the way, the 500 million dollars that obama generously gave Solyndra, which will never be repaid to us, would have gone a long way to fix some pot holes.....

 

[targus]

This is about now and our government doing another stupid unnecessary tax system when we already one that works. Just raise the amount on what we already pay.

This is a very different approach than you recommended for military spending.

Perhaps the tax on gas should be cut in half and the transportation department can just figure out where to cut.