Readers On Transportation Funding: Index Fuel Taxes To Inflation, Tax Miles Driven
The non-scientific Sunday Poll asked about transportation finding:
Q: Current state & federal fuel taxes aren’t enough, pick two alternatives:
- Index fuel taxes to inflation 21 [32.31%]
- Tax miles driven 20 [30.77%]
- Tax roads (tolls) 16 [24.62%]
- Tax cars (registration, etc) 6 [9.23%]
- Tax barrels of oil, not gasoline/diesel 2 [3.08%]
- Unsure/No Opinion 0 [0%]
As you can see, three got double digit responses. I personally like all three. Let’s look at some pros & cons of each:
Index fuel taxes to inflation
- PROS: simple, easy to understand. An improved version of what we’ve had for decades
- CONS: electric vehicles don’t contribute to road maintenance
Tax Miles Driven
- PROS: fair to all drivers (internal combustion & electric), drive more — pay more
- CONS: privacy concerns about monitoring devices, fraud prevention a challenge
Tax Roads
PROS: no privacy issues
CONS: those who drive non-highways wouldn’t pay
Conclusion
The way we’ve been funding transportation hasn’t worked for a long time. Going decades with raising the fuel tax is foolish — it ignores inflation. We’ve also built too many roads and not enough public transit.
We can get out of this, but it involves changing the way things are done. We must recognize inflation and technology requires us to change. The first step is to raise state & federal fuel taxes and to index them to inflationism. The next step is to look at way to document miles driven that do need create privacy concerns.
— Steve Patterson
The only thing that “hasn’t worked for a long time” is that our politicians haven’t had the spine to say if you actually want something, you gotta pay for it. If the gas tax had been raised a penny or two every year, for the last two decades, we would NOT have the “funding problem” that we’re now facing! Kicking the can down the road does come back to bite ya!
Actually, I document annual “miles driven” every time I pay my car insurance renewal premium. And if I understate the mileage, I risk voiding my coverage when I file a claim. So maybe the car insurance companies can report mileage to the IRS, just as they document insurance coverage to the state licensing departments. (And those who persist in driving without insurance should just be shot!) (hyperbole)
I’m not sure that “Tax Miles Driven” is fair to all drivers. It would also need to include some kind of multiplier based on the weight of the vehicle.