Gov. Ted Kulongoski of Oregon is proving a truism about government – they hate it when people find ways around their tax schemes. For years states have relied on gasoline taxes hidden in the price of the final product to pay for all sorts of things that the politicians in them want to accomplish. Usually it is for roads and transportation but the funds often have a habit of being siphoned off for other tasks as well.
But now, as cars are getting more and more fuel efficient, governments are facing a quandary. If cars get more MPGs and people are not driving further, revenues drop – especially in states with oppressive laws and regulations that are not attracting enough new residents to make up the difference.
Gov. Kulongoski has a solution though – track everyone’s millage and charge them.
A year ago, the Oregon Department of Transportation announced it had demonstrated that a new way to pay for roads “” via a mileage tax and satellite technology “” could work.
Now Gov. Ted Kulongoski says he’d like the legislature to take the next step.
As part of a transportation-related bill he has filed for the 2009 legislative session, the governor says he plans to recommend “a path to transition away from the gas tax as the central funding source for transportation.”
What that means is explained on the governor’s website:
“As Oregonians drive less and demand more fuel-efficient vehicles, it is increasingly important that the state find a new way, other than the gas tax, to finance our transportation system.”
According to the policies he has outlined online, Kulongoski proposes to continue the work of the special task force that came up with and tested the idea of a mileage tax to replace the gas tax.
The governor wants the task force “to partner with auto manufacturers to refine technology that would enable Oregonians to pay for the transportation system based on how many miles they drive.”
The online outline adds: “The governor is committed to ensuring that rural Oregon is not adversely affected and that privacy concerns are addressed.”
When the task force’s study and test were in the news in 2006 and 2007, critics worried that the technology could be used to track where vehicles go, not just how far they travel, and that this information would somehow be stored by the government.
Oh no, government would never do anything so sinister </sarcasm>.
Liberals get upset about the federal government data mining phone numbers looking for people that are calling known terrorists and terrorist related numbers. But you can bet your bottom dollar that when it comes to getting your money to pay for their projects they will be jumping up and down to justify knowing where you went and when. You thought the IRS was intrusive? Wait until you have to let the government see every mile you have driven.
Just a hunch, but if this system is implemented you might start seeing a lot of Oregonians buying and registering cars out of state.
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