January 3, 2009 Additional Gasoline Taxes "By the Mile"

Do you drive or have you thought about purchasing a car that gets good gas mileage for economic reasons? Do you drive or have you thought about purchasing a hybrid vehicle for gas mileage and environmental reasons?

How would you like to pay a "mileage" tax that would take away your gas and gas tax savings?

Oregon has placed GPS monitors on 300 vehicles in a pilot program to track the mileage and let the owner pay a "mileage" tax at the gas pumps. Congress is looking at "mileage" taxes, too, in addition to gas tax increases being discussed by the incoming administration as part of a $1 TRILLION DOLLAR stimulus package!

Why the mileage tax?

Click here for the full Memphis Commercial Appeal (AP) story.

Oregon is among a growing number of states exploring ways to tax drivers based on the number of miles they drive instead of how much gas they use, even going so far as to install GPS monitoring devices in 300 vehicles.

The idea first emerged nearly 10 years ago as Oregon lawmakers worried that fuel-efficient cars such as gas-electric hybrids could pose a threat to road upkeep, which is paid for largely with gasoline taxes.

For years, the federal government demanded that automakers build cars that got more miles per gallon. The government wanted consumers to use fuel-efficient cars and even offered tax rebates to purchasers of gas/electric hybrids. Now that many consumers--for environmental or economic reasons or both--have opted for the better mileage vehicles, the state and federal governments are looking at a "mileage" tax to replace and/or supplement the current per gallon tax.

And for those concerned about privacy issues, the Oregon task force has "assured people that the program does not track detailed movement and that driving history is not stored and cannot be accessed by law enforcement agencies." Does anyone want to take a bet that the information is not stored and can not be accessed by law enforcement or possibly others?

Ben Franklin said: In this world nothing is certain but death and taxes.

Hey Ben, here's another (almost) certainty. Death by taxation!