Fuel efficient cars reduce Federal gas tax

[Chuck]

By 2040, the new rules will reduce the nation's gas tax revenue 21 percent annually.

David Sherpardson - DETROITNEWS - May 3, 2012

Financing our roads gets more complicated as the US drowns in ever increasing debt --Ed.

Washington —Rising fuel-efficiency standards will cut gas tax revenue by $57 billion through 2025, the Congressional Budget Office said in a report released Wednesday.

The government should consider hiking the 18.4 cent per gallon federal gas tax — which hasn't been increased since 1993 — or cutting spending on road repairs or paying for repairs through the general budget, the report said.... [Read More]

[brick]

I listened to an NPR news story on this topic a week or so ago. It drives me insane that so many view the simple solution...increase the tax as the fleet becomes more efficient...as untenable. "It will never happen because no sitting politician will propose it." Instead we get all this talk of a per-mile tax and the headaches and expense of implementing it. (How are they going to find out how far I drive each year? How are they going to account for the damage a Durango does to a road vs. Chuck's Insight?) One more reason I hate politics.

[50 mpg by 2012]

Interesting thoughts ...

Doubling Federal and State fuel taxes would only add about 50¢ per gallon. That would be about a 12% increase based on current fuel prices.

Is that really make-or-break?

Sure it is not comfortable ... but taxing by the mile or some other scheme ... will require additional technology (retrofits anyone?) and MANY more government personnel to to operate.

At least that is the way I see it.

Obviously plug-ins are a different situation ... that WILL be addressed ... soon?

It seems to me that the simplest solution for plug-ins would be a $450/$250 "road use tax" paid along with annual license plate re-registration for a BEV/EREV (Volt?) respectively???

JMO ...

[ALS]

I bought my Prius mainly because I don't have to give these crooks $200 in gasoline taxes.

Funny how no one can find any savings anywhere. We can't afford the programs and entitlements we already have on the books yet they want more and more.

I'd go for a fuel tax increase only if we shut off 100% of the other than road repair and maintenance. Not one cent for a brand new road or bridge until every existing road, bridge and over pass is repaired.

I see this garbage around me all the time and all the money wasted on no need projects other than a photo OP. You can't stand their and get press for fixing a falling down bridge over a ground breaking for a new road construction project.

[Bennett]

Unfortunately the programs and entitlements (like driveable roads) are things that ensure we live in a nice society. Taxes are the price of living in a nice society...and if the choices are we pay more taxes or live in a worse society with fewer advantages...well, my view is I'd rather not take steps backwards for the sake of saving a few bucks.

The EV issue regarding gas tax is a difficult one. In the UK there is a road tax as well as a petrol tax (which is massively higher than in the US). The road tax varies by car type - smaller cars are less.

[wick1ert]

I feel the same way as ALS. They're building a big new interchange here @ I-95 (It has been needed for many years, though), but yet DelDuh has been running budget deficits since I can imagine. We have roads that bounce you all over that aren't being touched, but there's an abundance of large projects getting done, like this interchange, widening projects, etc. How in the world can we afford new, more maintenance items, if we can't even afford to maintain what we currently have.

[Bennett]

It's a short-term mentality - money spent on producing something immediate is seen as better spent than on something that prevents problems ten years down the road...

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

Originally Posted by wick1ert

I feel the same way as ALS. They're building a big new interchange here @ I-95 (It has been needed for many years, though), but yet DelDuh has been running budget deficits since I can imagine. We have roads that bounce you all over that aren't being touched, but there's an abundance of large projects getting done, like this interchange, widening projects, etc. How in the world can we afford new, more maintenance items, if we can't even afford to maintain what we currently have.

Sources of funding.

[thunderstruck]

We also need to ensure we are getting the most bang for our buck. I drive by way too many construction zones with guys making $45 an hour either holding a sign that says "SLOW" (truth in advertising, should also have ones that say "LAZY" and "WORTHLESS"), or standing around leaning on shovels or talking on cell phones. Went by a bridge project by my house last week, about 9:30 and there's literally 3 guys standing around drinking coffee, and nobody doing a lick of work.

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

Originally Posted by 50 mpg by 2012

Interesting thoughts ...

Doubling Federal and State fuel taxes would only add about 50¢ per gallon. That would be about a 12% increase based on current fuel prices.

Is that really make-or-break?

Sure it is not comfortable ... but taxing by the mile or some other scheme ... will require additional technology (retrofits anyone?) and MANY more government personnel to to operate.

It wouldn't take much to change it. It's actually pretty simple:
f(weight,axles) * ( new_odometer - old_odometer ).
Cars already have to be registered and inspected.

Obviously plug-ins are a different situation ... that WILL be addressed ... soon?

It seems to me that the simplest solution for plug-ins would be a $450/$250 "road use tax" paid along with annual license plate re-registration for a BEV/EREV (Volt?) respectively???

JMO ...

No need with odometer-based pricing. The only technical problem would be a broken or missing odometer, but I wouldn't anticipate that as being a common or significant problem.

Fraud could be another issue, but you can cover some of that with fines, confiscation and suspension.