**
Dr. Eowyn posted: " Like a hungry lion prowling for prey, cash-poor and
revenue-hungry state governments are now looking at a new tax -- on how
many miles you drive. The push comes as the federal government's Highway
Trust Fund, financed with taxes Americans pay at th" Respond to this
post by replying above this line
New post on *Fellowship of the Minds*
<http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/author/eowyn2/> It’s coming: Tax on your
car
mileage<http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/2013/10/27/its-coming-tax-on-your-car-mileage/>
by
Dr. Eowyn <http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/author/eowyn2/>
[image:
screwthetaxpayer]<http://fellowshipofminds.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/screwthetaxpayer.jpg>
Like a hungry lion prowling for prey, cash-poor and revenue-hungry state
governments are now looking at a new tax -- on how many miles you drive.
The push comes as *the federal government's Highway Trust Fund, financed
with taxes Americans pay at the gas pump, is broke.* We're not buying as
much gas as we used to: Cars are getting many more miles to the gallon; and
the federal tax of 18.4 cents per gallon hasn't gone up in 20 years.
Politicians are loath to raise the tax even one penny when gas prices are
high, so they're looking elsewhere to raise revenue -- your mileage.
Evan Halper reports for the *Los Angeles
Times*<http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-roads-black-boxes-20131027,0,6090226.story#axzz2ixKOJTu2>,
Oct. 26, 2013, that as America's road planners struggle to find the cash to
mend a crumbling highway system, many are beginning to see a solution in *a
little black box that fits neatly by the dashboard of your car*.
The devices, which *track every mile a motorist drives and transmit that
information to bureaucrats*, are at the center of a controversial attempt
in Washington and state planning offices to overhaul the outdated system
for funding America's major roads.
Wonks call it a mileage-based user fee. The tax has made unlikely allies on
both sides. Among the *mileage-tax advocates *are:
- Urban liberals and environmentalists (two overlapping groups), who
see the mileage taxes as a way to change driving patterns in ways that
could help reduce congestion and greenhouse gases.
-
Libertarians<http://www.latimes.com/topic/politics/parties-movements/libertarian-party-ORGOV000277.topic>
and
free marketeers at the Reason Foundation. Its vice president of policy
Adrian Moore said, "This is not just a tax going into a black hole. People
are paying more directly into what they are getting."
- Two former U.S. Transportation secretaries, who in a 2011 report urged
Congress to move in the pay-per-mile direction.
- Republican Congressman Bill
Shuster<http://www.latimes.com/topic/politics/government/bill-shuster-PEPLT006038.topic>(Pa.),
chairman of the House Transportation Committee, who said he sees the
tax as the most viable long-term alternative.
- The U.S.
Senate<http://www.latimes.com/topic/politics/government/u.s.-senate-ORGOV0000134.topic>approved
a $90-million pilot project last year that would have involved
about 10,000 cars.
*Opponents of the mileage-tax *include:
- The House GOP leaders, who killed the Senate pilot project proposal,
acting on concerns of rural lawmakers representing constituents whose daily
lives often involve logging lots of miles to get to work or into town.
- The Tea
Party<http://www.latimes.com/topic/politics/tea-party-movement-ORCIG000068.topic>
.
- The American Civil Liberties
Union<http://www.latimes.com/topic/social-issues/american-civil-liberties-union-ORCIG0000034.topic>is
troubled by violations of our privacy because the same black box that
tracks your mileage also tracks when and where you drive. The ACLU of
Nevada warns on its website: "It would be fairly easy to turn these devices
into full-fledged tracking devices.... There is no need to build an
enormous, unwieldy technological infrastructure that will inevitably be
expanded to keep records of individuals' everyday comings and goings."
While
Congress<http://www.latimes.com/topic/politics/government/u.s.-congress-ORGOV0000131.topic>can't
agree on whether to proceed,
*several states and cities are not waiting and are moving ahead on their
own:*
*1. Oregon*
The state of Oregon is the most eager for the mileage tax and is enlisting
5,000 drivers in the country's biggest experiment. Those drivers will soon
pay the mileage fees instead of gas taxes to the state.
*2. Nevada*
Nevada has already completed a pilot in which about 50 volunteers' cars
recently were equipped with the black boxes. But Nevada drivers are uneasy
about the government being able to monitor their every move. "Concerns
about Big Brother and those sorts of things were a major problem," said
Alauddin Khan, who directs strategic and performance management at the
Nevada Department of Transportation. "It was not something people wanted."
*3. California*
California planners are looking to the system as they devise strategies to
meet the goals laid out in the state's ambitious global warming laws.
Southern California Assn. of Governments is planning for the state to start
tracking miles driven by every California motorist by 2025. The
Association's executive director Hasan Ikhrata said, "This really is a must
for our nation. It is not a matter of something we might choose to do.
There is going to be a change in how we pay these taxes. The technology is
there to do it."
*4. Minnesota*
Minnesota recently put tracking devices on 500 cars to test out a
pay-by-mile system. University of Minnesota transportation policy expert
Lee Munnich said, "The gas tax is just not sustainable. This works out as
the most logical alternative over the long term."
*5. New York City* is looking into one.
*6. Illinois* is trying the mileage tax on a limited basis with trucks.
*7. The I-95 Coalition*, which includes *17 state transportation
departments along the Eastern Seaboard* (including Maryland, Pennsylvania,
Virginia and Florida), is studying how they could go about implementing the
mileage tax.
Obviously, a mileage tax that doesn't involve tracking drivers' speed and
location would be more palatable.
A small California startup called True Mileage had devices that appeal to
highway planners because they don't use GPS and deliver a limited amount of
information, uploaded periodically by modem. True Mileage's chief executive
Ryan Morrison says, "People will be more willing to do this if you do not
track their speed and you do not track their location. There have been some
big mistakes in some of these state pilot programs. There are a lot less
expensive and less intrusive ways to do this."
In Oregon, planners are experimenting with giving drivers different
choices. They can choose a device with or without GPS. Or they can choose
not to have a device at all, opting instead to pay a flat fee based on the
average number of miles driven by all state residents.
Other places are hoping to sell the concept to a wary public by having the
devices do more, not less. In New York City, transportation officials are
seeking to develop a taxing device that would also be equipped to pay
parking meter fees, provide "pay-as-you-drive" insurance, and create a pool
of real-time speed data from other drivers that motorists could use to
avoid traffic. "Motorists would be attracted to participate … because of
the value of the benefits it offers to them," says a city planning document.
*Meanwhile, thousands of motorists, aka sheeple, have already taken the
black boxes, some of which have GPS monitoring, for a test drive.*
Some transportation planners, though, wonder if all the talk about paying
by the mile is just a giant distraction. At the Metropolitan Transportation
Commission in the San Francisco Bay Area, officials say *Congress could
very simply deal with the bankrupt Highway Trust Fund by raising gas
taxes.*An extra one-time or annual levy could be imposed on drivers of
hybrids and
others whose vehicles don't use much gas, so they pay their fair share.
Randy Rentschler, the commission's director of legislation and public
affairs, said, "If we do this [mileage tax], hundreds of millions of
drivers will be concerned about their privacy and a host of other things.
There is no need for radical surgery when all you need to do is take an
aspirin [increase gas taxes]."
*~Eowyn*
*Dr. Eowyn <http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/author/eowyn2/>* | October
27, 2013 at 2:37 pm | Tags: ACLU <http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/?tag=aclu>,
Bill Shuster <http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/?tag=bill-shuster>, Highway
Trust Fund <http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/?tag=highway-trust-fund>, I-95
Coalition <http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/?tag=i-95-coalition>, Nevada
Department of
Transportation<http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/?tag=nevada-department-of-transportation>,
Randy Rentschler
<http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/?tag=randy-rentschler>, Reason
Foundation <http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/?tag=reason-foundation>, Southern
California Assn. of
Governments<http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/?tag=southern-california-assn-of-governments>,
True Mileage <http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/?tag=true-mileage> |
Categories: Congress <http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/?cat=4308>,
Economy<http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/?cat=17656840>,
Global Warming / Climate Change<http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/?cat=536484>,
Liberals/Democrats/Left
<http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/?cat=115894710>, Obama's
America <http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/?cat=12285619>, Republican
Party<http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/?cat=56189>,
Science & technology <http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/?cat=1749>,
Taxes<http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/?cat=34919470>,
Tea Party <http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/?cat=34918731>,
Travel<http://fellowshipoftheminds.com/?cat=200>| URL:
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