Gax Tax Hike Courtesy of Govmt
WASHINGTON -- A 50 percent increase in gasoline and diesel fuel taxes is being urged by a federal commission to finance highway construction and repair until the government devises another way for motorists to pay for using public roads.
The National Commission on Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing, a 15-member panel created by Congress, is the second group in a year to call for higher fuel taxes.
With motorists driving less and buying less fuel, the current 18.4 cents a gallon gas tax and 24.4 cents a gallon diesel tax fail to raise enough to keep pace with the cost of road, bridge and transit programs.
In a report expected in late January, members of the infrastructure financing commission say they will urge Congress to raise the gas tax by 10 cents a gallon and the diesel fuel tax by 12 to 15 cents a gallon. At the same time, the commission will recommend tying the fuel tax rates to inflation.
The commission will also recommend that states raise their fuel taxes and make greater use of toll roads and fees for rush-hour driving.
A tax increase on this order would be politically treacherous for Democratic leaders in Congress -- a gas tax hike was one of the reasons they lost control of the House and Senate in the 1994 elections. President-elect Barack Obama has expressed concern about raising gas taxes in the current economic climate. But commission members said the government must find the money somewhere.
"I'm not excited about a gas tax increase, but the reality is our current gas tax doesn't pay for upkeep of the system we have now," said Adrian Moore, vice president of the Reason Foundation, a libertarian think tank in Los Angeles, and a member of the highway revenue commission. "We can either let the roads go to hell or we can pay more."
The dilemma for Congress is that highway and transit programs are dependent for revenue on fuel taxes that are not sustainable. Many Americans are driving less and switching to more fuel-efficient cars and trucks, and a shift to new fuels and technologies like plug-in hybrid electric cars will further erode gasoline sales.
According to a draft of the financing commission's recommendations, the nation needs to move to a new system that taxes motorists according to how much they use roads.
"Most if not all of the commissioners have a strong belief and commitment that we need a fundamental transformation of the current system," said commission chairman Robert Atkinson, president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, a technology policy think tank in Washington.
A study by the Transportation Research Board of the National Academies estimated that the annual gap between revenues and the investment needed to improve highway and transit systems was about $105 billion in 2007, and will increase to $134 billion in 2017 under current trends.
Projected shortfalls in revenue led the National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission, in a report issued in January 2008, to call for an increase of as much as 40 cents a gallon in the gas tax, phased in over five years.
Charles Whittington, chairman of the American Trucking Associations, which supports a fuel tax increase as long as the money goes to highway projects, said Congress may decide to disguise a fuel tax hike as a surcharge to combat climate change.
Transportation is responsible for about a third of all U.S. carbon emissions created by burning fossil fuels. Traffic congestion wastes an estimated 2.9 billion gallons of fuel a year. Less congestion would reduce greenhouse gases and dependence on foreign oil.
"Instead of calling it a gas tax, call it a carbon tax," Whittington said. "As long as we label it as something else we may have the momentum and acceptance to move forward."
Bottlenecks around the nation cost the trucking industry about 243 million lost truck hours and about $7.8 billion per year, according to the commission.
The financing commission thinks the long-term solution is a mileage-based revenue system. While details have not been worked out, such a system would mean equipping every car and truck with a device that uses global positioning satellites and transponders to record how many miles the vehicle has been driven, the type of roads and time of day. Creation and installation of such a system would take about 10 years.
Moore said commission members were initially concerned that using technology to track driving might violate drivers' privacy, but they've been assured that such a system could be designed to prevent vehicles from being "tracked in some big brotherish way."
Re: Gax Tax Hike Courtesy of Govmt
They are trying to come up with a new tax here in Oregon as well, to help with road upkeep. Gas tax was mentioned, but the new idea our Governor has released is to tax folks on the miles they drive via a GPS monitoring device. I guess I will be seriously thinking about a move if this is implemented.
Re: Gax Tax Hike Courtesy of Govmt
Quote:
Originally Posted by
The Breeze
They are trying to come up with a new tax here in Oregon as well, to help with road upkeep. Gas tax was mentioned, but the new idea our Governor has released is to tax folks on the miles they drive via a GPS monitoring device. I guess I will be seriously thinking about a move if this is implemented.
I've read about that "pay-per-mile" GPS tracking law. Seems it would just about kill tourism and bring the rural areas to a standstill or even making them a ghost town. Only ones who would benefit are the people who live across the street to where they work.
Really dumb idea by your Gov. Tom. Of course, nothing was mentioned about the kickbacks to the politicians from the company who is pushing this grand idea.
sq~
Re: Gax Tax Hike Courtesy of Govmt
I'm all in for a gas tax for better roads, but a GPS system would suck bigtime. It's just too stupid.
A gas tax is fair because it is generally pay per mile, and heavier cars and especially SUVs which do more damage to the roads and environment (and road safety) pay proportionally.
Re: Gax Tax Hike Courtesy of Govmt
Are you willing to put up with a 50% increase? That is literally highway robbery. They will tax us without our voting on it and have no accountability for their spending of the revenue. :mad:
Re: Gax Tax Hike Courtesy of Govmt
Quote:
Originally Posted by
partsfreak
Are you willing to put up with a 50% increase? That is literally highway robbery. They will tax us without our voting on it and have no accountability for their spending of the revenue. :mad:
the Gov. needs to learn how to get by with what collect now. in fact they need to learn how to spend less and collect less of our money. there is no reason for the amount of money they spend.
Re: Gax Tax Hike Courtesy of Govmt
If it means less potholes, fresh asphalt, and bridges that don't fall apart, I am all for it. However, no matter how much they tax us the people that do the job are going to take too long and halfass it and there will be potholes again in no time. I miss European highways.
Re: Gax Tax Hike Courtesy of Govmt
Quote:
Originally Posted by
lugnuts
the Gov. needs to learn how to get by with what collect now. in fact they need to learn how to spend less and collect less of our money. there is no reason for the amount of money they spend.
I agree, But people like Pelosi would take some of the money to fly their taxpayer privat jets around and thumb their nose at us.
If it means less potholes, fresh asphalt, and bridges that don't fall apart, I am all for it. However, no matter how much they tax us the people that do the job are going to take too long and halfass it and there will be potholes again in no time. I miss European highways.
But they have a state tax here and tolls there to handle the road maint and improvements already. They let the road contracts go over time and budget regularly without consequese to the contact companies.
I also miss pean in the highwats too:D
