Paying Our Fair Share of Highway Taxes [ADMIN WARNING: NO POLITICS]

[VaporTrails]

ICE vehicles pay per mile based on how much gas they use. All vehicles should pay the same way.

EV’s can’t get a free ride. States, Counties and Cities all have different ways of turning taxes into infrastructure. In my state, they decided to just charge a flat fee as a part of the licensing. At least in the United States, we have a hard time investing in infrastructure. The closer we tie the investment to the consumer of it, the more likely it will get funding. I don’t want to add “don’t pay road taxes” to the anti-EV narrative. I think tying it to mileage is a good idea. I don’t desire a large surprise bill.

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[hartmms]

It's not just EVs impacting revenue for road repair. With regular ICE car fuel efficiency going up and up, there is less $ per mile driven now compared to before. The Fed gas tax $ hasn't changed since 1993 and AZ $ has not changed since 1991.

In 2022, we in AZ lost the cheap EV vehicle license taxes. They are now identical to ICE cars . Arizona is considering adding a $135 per year extra fee to vehicles that don't consume gas or diesel. That's just a flat tax, regardless of miles driven. There were some who proposed a per mile tax on EVs, but that would require some level of government monitoring of miles driven. That has some people really spooked about invasion of privacy, with additional concerns there will be limits set on miles that can be driven.

Even if they chose a per mile tax, how would the state even get that accurate data? No one wants a tracking device from their state in their car. Self reporting would be ripe for lying. Maybe the states can just buy your car's data off the internet from the "data brokers"

Seriously though, I think the lawmakers need to start regulating how the personal data all these devices we have (phones, cars, refrigerators, etc) is treated, stored and sold.

 

[zvez]

Are we paying our Fair Share of highway taxes? Since those taxes are mostly a per gallon assessment, in most cases we are not and it isn't helping anyone. Some States are charging a fee when you register your BEV but that isn't fair either. There needs to be a tax based on miles driven and the weight of the vehicle. Here in upstate NY the roads took a beating this winter and road repairs are very expensive. There needs to be an equitable solution.

while I agree it may not be fully equitable, here in GA we pay an annual EV usage fee of $214 which is roughly the equivalent of gas tax on 800 gallons. So, in my entire life I've never consumed 800 gallons in a single vehicle in a given year. So it's certainly not equitable.
But that said, I'm not sure how easy it would be to scale it to individual drivers. I also feel like it's a pretty minor fee and think it's only fair that we pay a fee since road repair is generally done with gas tax revenue.

 

[ponEpwr]

Should be about $200 a year and tack it to registration. I’m fine with that.

 

[DennisD]

Are we paying our Fair Share of highway taxes? Since those taxes are mostly a per gallon assessment, in most cases we are not and it isn't helping anyone. Some States are charging a fee when you register your BEV but that isn't fair either. There needs to be a tax based on miles driven and the weight of the vehicle. Here in upstate NY the roads took a beating this winter and road repairs are very expensive. There needs to be an equitable solution.

Nebraska pays $75 annual tax on EV's.

If you include the higher sales tax (because EV's typically cost more) along with greener emissions, one could argue that you are already contributing/helping in more ways than you realize.

You in effect purchased a vehicle at a much higher cost to help your local municipals and I would guess the energy source (electricity) was made/purchased in your local area/State as well. Much of the gasoline that we purchase most likely came from another State and not your local municipal if you will.

The EV's are at such a small scale now but I would guess as they ramp up, your worry of not paying enough tax will soon become a "I am tired of paying too much tax" here soon.

 

[OWG]

In MA, we also pay an excise tax on vehicles which go to the general fund. Next to property taxes it is a top 3 revenue earner for the state. They can use the money to ignore potholes or fund general projects. ...Paying more in taxes won’t change the fact NewEngland is known for its crappy roads because of winter.

A point of clarification - the vehicle excise tax does not go the State's general fund - it goes to the City or town and is not really a road tax.

And for those not blessed to live in the Commonwealth, the excise tax, based on the MSRP (X 2.5% per $1000), and the year of manufacture reducing over 5 years from a 90% basis when new to 10% basis in year 5 and beyond. So the first year's excise tax bill is a big ouchie, but for a five year old vehicle a bit lsss so.

Microsoft Word - question2_add.doc (mass.gov)

 

[Vulnox]

Michigan was one of the earlier states to add an additional fee to license renewal. We were paying it on our 2016 C-Max Energi because I feel like it had to be at least a 7kWh battery or something like that, and the PHEV qualified.

I am fine with the idea of it, but also think making it a half measure in all these states is dumb. They either need to come up with a flat fee for all registered vehicles of all fuel types, or some modification where it's based on vehicle curb weight.

I say this because even the gas tax doesn't make a lot of sense. While not a fuel efficiency king, our F-150 Hybrid gets better mileage than quite a few vehicles that weigh much less than it does, mainly comparing to some high performance vehicles and some mid-size SUVs, but an F-150 is going to do more wear on the road. Heck, most hybrids that are below the kWh rating to have the annual fee are going to weigh more than their non-hybrid variants but should be getting better fuel mileage, so again the higher wear vehicle pays less.

We have hit a point in vehicle weights vs fuel mileage that everyone should want a flat rate. So long as they actually do away with the portion of the fuel tax that was going towards road work anyway. It would also help with budget planning at the state level because you could estimate the road works budget based on number of licensed vehicles and newly sold vehicles and their associated fees instead of a constantly variable fuel consumption.

 

[MellowJohnny]

Our provincial government removed our vehicle registration tax completely two years ago, (there is still a gas tax) for everyone. Why? Election year. Dumb move - nobody asked for it, nobody really complained about it, and there were no provisions for making up the lost revenue somewhere else. Mind boggling.

However, I pay roughly 54% income tax, plus 13% sales tax when I go to spend what I've got left over. Sooooo....more tax? Not in favour. Use some of what you already took for infrastructure projects.

Also, at least around here, the weather has a bigger impact on road deterioration than use does. In winters like we just had, with lots of freeze-thaw cycles, the roads get butchered.

 

[Mach-Lee]

We pay more than our fair share in Wisconsin. Almost double what a gas car would pay. I think it should be approximately equal.

 

[AliRafiee]

Pay per mile has been on the senate floor a few times here in Washington. But never gets passed. I just paid $900 to register my car. ?

 

[jbooth]

+1 to weight based annual registration fee. Including for large trucks. Fee based on damage a vehicle of that weight (fully loaded weight) is expected to do to the road. That could probably just be "fee based on what weight class the vehicle is" and that'd be good enough for government work.

As a side benefit, it'll overcharge the "but mah truck" boys who like to roll coal on EVs and I'm good with that.

 

[zvez]

I don’t know about you, but out here in California I already pay a ton of taxes.

I also pay more to register my MME.

I don’t want the government tracking my mileage.

but the EV fee in CA is only around $150 correct?

Should be about $200 a year and tack it to registration. I’m fine with that.

most of the ones I've seen have been in the $200 range for various states.

 

[zvez]

+1 to weight based annual registration fee. Including for large trucks. Fee based on damage a vehicle of that weight (fully loaded weight) is expected to do to the road. That could probably just be "fee based on what weight class the vehicle is" and that'd be good enough for government work.

As a side benefit, it'll overcharge the "but mah truck" boys who like to roll coal on EVs and I'm good with that.

LOL I can see all the good ol boys in my area (georgia) blowing their carotids over paying based on weight for their YUGE trucks.

 

[zvez]

Pay per mile has been on the senate floor a few times here in Washington. But never gets passed. I just paid $900 to register my car. ?

but it looks like only about $150 of that is EV fee. Same with CA, their ev fee is maxed at $175. (here in GA we pay $214 a year) https://dol.wa.gov/vehicles-and-boats/vehicle-registration/calculate-vehicle-tab-fees

 

[jbooth]

LOL I can see all the good ol boys in my area (georgia) blowing their carotids over paying based on weight for their YUGE trucks.

Yeah well my other vehicles are a Honda Fit and... my cargo ebike so I have a fair bit of hostility to oversized emotional support vehicles pickups for some reason.

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