My state jacked up registration costs for EVs and fuel efficient ICE vehicles and is piloting a pay by mileage program. I admit they have to do something, but currently they’re just incentivizing people to buy gas guzzlers because they pay the least amount out of anyone tax wise.
The fairest thing would be to tax tires, since they’re mileage rated and size would be indicative of infrastructure wear. Except that it would incentivize people to drive on unsafe tires.
I mean, why not just cut to the chase and tax mileage driven? That’s what gas taxes indirectly do already. The only issue there is the tax goes wholly to the state where the vehicle is registered, rather than where it is driven.
The problem I have with this is that it doesn’t account for actual road damage (which is a factor of weight and not distance) and incentivises states to reduce public transit and low cost housing options. The further your citizens have to move from their jobs means more cash in the coffers.
Is it that big an incentive though, or just reducing the disincentive? Even if you get a $500 discount on your taxes, I’m guessing the gas guzzler eats up more than $500 worth of gas extra. That’s like, 2-3 gallons per week over the course of a year.
Probably not that big of an incentive for the driver of a gas guzzler depending on how much they drive, but the state shouldn’t penalize people for driving more fuel efficient ICE vehicles especially one like mine that loves to give lip service about climate change while not really doing anything concrete to reduce it. I could see charging more for EVs as they pay zero gas tax, but ICE should either all be the same or tiered in the opposite direction to further disincentivize people from commuting in a '92 Suburban versus something like a Prius.
Ish. Gas prices fall because people don’t drive as much. The whole supply-and-demand thing.
In this particular instance, everyone who is into Trucking knows that logistics / truckers are losing jobs left-and-right. We are already in a “freight recession” (sector-wide recession), no promises it spreads to the general economy. But when truckers enter a recession, there’s less taxes because less gasoline is being consumed.
That’s why people fear falling gas prices. Because it means the economic engines (trucking, freight, deliveries) are slowing down. And that absolutely has an effect on taxes. Even fixed-taxes like gas taxes.
Fewer people buying gas means less overall revenue. This is due to EVs, more fuel efficient vehicles, and people driving less from things like work from home policies.
Don’t worry MI is one who is gouging the EV drivers. They have a flat EV tax added on the plate registration no matter how many miles driven. My bro who drives about 200 miles a month is has to pay about what it would cost if he used gas and drove 3000 miles per month.
I suspect there are a number of state and local budgets are not prepared for gas tax revenue’s to continue to fall.
Not that I’m unhappy to see lower prices.
My state jacked up registration costs for EVs and fuel efficient ICE vehicles and is piloting a pay by mileage program. I admit they have to do something, but currently they’re just incentivizing people to buy gas guzzlers because they pay the least amount out of anyone tax wise.
The fairest thing would be to tax tires, since they’re mileage rated and size would be indicative of infrastructure wear. Except that it would incentivize people to drive on unsafe tires.
First time I’ve hear of a tire tax proposal. I really like the idea.
Even gas taxes suck because they don’t account for the weight^4 scaling of road damage. But tire wear should be proportional to road wear.
I mean, why not just cut to the chase and tax mileage driven? That’s what gas taxes indirectly do already. The only issue there is the tax goes wholly to the state where the vehicle is registered, rather than where it is driven.
The problem I have with this is that it doesn’t account for actual road damage (which is a factor of weight and not distance) and incentivises states to reduce public transit and low cost housing options. The further your citizens have to move from their jobs means more cash in the coffers.
Is it that big an incentive though, or just reducing the disincentive? Even if you get a $500 discount on your taxes, I’m guessing the gas guzzler eats up more than $500 worth of gas extra. That’s like, 2-3 gallons per week over the course of a year.
Probably not that big of an incentive for the driver of a gas guzzler depending on how much they drive, but the state shouldn’t penalize people for driving more fuel efficient ICE vehicles especially one like mine that loves to give lip service about climate change while not really doing anything concrete to reduce it. I could see charging more for EVs as they pay zero gas tax, but ICE should either all be the same or tiered in the opposite direction to further disincentivize people from commuting in a '92 Suburban versus something like a Prius.
I thought the gas tax was a fixed number rather than a percentage, wouldn’t that mean the revenue would stay the same?
Ish. Gas prices fall because people don’t drive as much. The whole supply-and-demand thing.
In this particular instance, everyone who is into Trucking knows that logistics / truckers are losing jobs left-and-right. We are already in a “freight recession” (sector-wide recession), no promises it spreads to the general economy. But when truckers enter a recession, there’s less taxes because less gasoline is being consumed.
That’s why people fear falling gas prices. Because it means the economic engines (trucking, freight, deliveries) are slowing down. And that absolutely has an effect on taxes. Even fixed-taxes like gas taxes.
I imagine many places do. My city has a sub 1% tax.
Fewer people buying gas means less overall revenue. This is due to EVs, more fuel efficient vehicles, and people driving less from things like work from home policies.
Don’t worry MI is one who is gouging the EV drivers. They have a flat EV tax added on the plate registration no matter how many miles driven. My bro who drives about 200 miles a month is has to pay about what it would cost if he used gas and drove 3000 miles per month.