Kulongoski to pursue mileage tax
By Hasso Hering
Albany Democrat-Herald
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.
In more than one interview with the Democrat-Herald and others, James Whitty, the ODOT official in charge of the project, tried to assure the public that tracking people?s travels was not in the plans.
The task force?s final report came out in November 2007. It was based largely on a field test in which about 300 motorists in the Portland area and two service stations took part over
10 months, ending in March 2007.
A GPS-based system kept track of the in-state mileage driven by the volunteers. When they bought fuel, a device in their vehicles was read, and they paid 1.2 cents a mile and got a refund of the state gas tax of 24 cents a gallon.
The final report detailed the technical aspects of the program. It also stressed the issue of privacy.
?The concept requires no transmission of vehicle travel locations, either in real time or of travel history,? the report said. ?Accordingly, no travel location points are stored within the vehicle or transmitted elsewhere. Thus there can be no ?tracking? of vehicle movements.?
Also, the report said, under the Oregon concept of the program, ?ODOT would have no involvement in developing the on-vehicle devices, installing them in vehicles, maintaining them or having any other access to them except, perhaps, in situations involving tampering or similar fee evasion activities.?
Equipment for the Oregon test was developed at Oregon State University.
Whitty said last year it might take about $20 million to establish that the mileage tax is commercially viable. Eventually, GPS devices would have to start being built into cars, and fueling stations would have to be similarly equipped.
The gas tax would stay in force ? Kulongoski has proposed that it be raised 2 cents ? for vehicles not equipped to pay the mileage tax.
...............................................................
" If there going to require you to install GPS units to track your mileage then they should also use it to exempt the driving that you are doing on private property, logging roads, and farm roads since they do not pay to keep these up and then they should also drop the gas taxes for power equipment such as lawnmowers and chainsaws since these do not wear out the roads but the taxes for these devices get diverted to other pet uses. "
s" This is just another way for the government to tax us. They will NOT remove the current gas tax as they will say doing so would cost the state x-amount of dollars which would have a negative impact on services such as; child welfare, disabled seniors and a host of other services. I say let them be efficient with what they have before they waste more of our money.
Whittey said it might take about $20 million to even establish the program. So here's a question. Where does the initial $20 million come from? Oh and GPS would eventually need to be installed in cars and fueling stations and who's going to pay for that? The taxpayers, local business owners and the manufacturers.
And just one other thing. The state will need to hire full time employees to monitor this program plus a "fraud department" and who's going to pay for that? I wonder...
Well I guess if they need another "test" try installing it on all of the State licensed vehicles first. Track if State employees are using "official" vehicles for personal use. And figure a way to fix that. "
........................................................
wtf
this is the problem with goverment. always trying to figure out new ways to screw the citizens.
By Hasso Hering
Albany Democrat-Herald
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.
In more than one interview with the Democrat-Herald and others, James Whitty, the ODOT official in charge of the project, tried to assure the public that tracking people?s travels was not in the plans.
The task force?s final report came out in November 2007. It was based largely on a field test in which about 300 motorists in the Portland area and two service stations took part over
10 months, ending in March 2007.
A GPS-based system kept track of the in-state mileage driven by the volunteers. When they bought fuel, a device in their vehicles was read, and they paid 1.2 cents a mile and got a refund of the state gas tax of 24 cents a gallon.
The final report detailed the technical aspects of the program. It also stressed the issue of privacy.
?The concept requires no transmission of vehicle travel locations, either in real time or of travel history,? the report said. ?Accordingly, no travel location points are stored within the vehicle or transmitted elsewhere. Thus there can be no ?tracking? of vehicle movements.?
Also, the report said, under the Oregon concept of the program, ?ODOT would have no involvement in developing the on-vehicle devices, installing them in vehicles, maintaining them or having any other access to them except, perhaps, in situations involving tampering or similar fee evasion activities.?
Equipment for the Oregon test was developed at Oregon State University.
Whitty said last year it might take about $20 million to establish that the mileage tax is commercially viable. Eventually, GPS devices would have to start being built into cars, and fueling stations would have to be similarly equipped.
The gas tax would stay in force ? Kulongoski has proposed that it be raised 2 cents ? for vehicles not equipped to pay the mileage tax.
...............................................................
" If there going to require you to install GPS units to track your mileage then they should also use it to exempt the driving that you are doing on private property, logging roads, and farm roads since they do not pay to keep these up and then they should also drop the gas taxes for power equipment such as lawnmowers and chainsaws since these do not wear out the roads but the taxes for these devices get diverted to other pet uses. "
s" This is just another way for the government to tax us. They will NOT remove the current gas tax as they will say doing so would cost the state x-amount of dollars which would have a negative impact on services such as; child welfare, disabled seniors and a host of other services. I say let them be efficient with what they have before they waste more of our money.
Whittey said it might take about $20 million to even establish the program. So here's a question. Where does the initial $20 million come from? Oh and GPS would eventually need to be installed in cars and fueling stations and who's going to pay for that? The taxpayers, local business owners and the manufacturers.
And just one other thing. The state will need to hire full time employees to monitor this program plus a "fraud department" and who's going to pay for that? I wonder...
Well I guess if they need another "test" try installing it on all of the State licensed vehicles first. Track if State employees are using "official" vehicles for personal use. And figure a way to fix that. "
........................................................
wtf
this is the problem with goverment. always trying to figure out new ways to screw the citizens.
