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October 29. 2014 12:01AM Our View: Any new gas tax must be equitable The Oregon Department of Transportation plans another test of a mileage tax on gasoline consumption to replace the existing per-gallon tax at the pump. Clearly some solution is needed to replace dwindling gas tax revenue, but any new scheme must be carefully crafted to ensure it's fair to everyone. The test starting in July will involve 5,000 volunteers. They will be billed 1.5 cents for each mile they drive, measured by a variety of methods including a GPS unit, a daily diary or an odometer device. They will be reimbursed for taxes they pay at the pump. Transportation officials have been warning for years that the steadily increasing efficiency of cars and trucks would threaten highway construction and maintenance budgets, primarily supported by gas taxes. It stands to reason that a Prius that gets 40-plus miles to the gallon will generate far less in gas taxes than a V-8 pickup that gets 15. And even thirsty vehicles such as trucks and SUVs are more efficient than they used to be. One solution under consideration is charging motorists per mile driven rather than per gallon purchased. On the surface, it appears more fair to tax those who drive the most, thus causing more wear and tear on the public roads. Unfortunately, it's not that simple. Suppose you own a car that gets 20 miles per gallon, and you drive 100 miles a week, using 5 gallons of gas. At 1.5 cents a mile, you would pay $1.50 in tax. If you paid the Oregon rate of 30 cents a gallon at the pump, your tax bill would still be $1.50. But if your car gets 10 miles per gallon, you would pay the same $1.50 for driving 100 miles, but would use twice the gas, which would cost you $3 in tax at the pump. Meanwhile, the owner of a Prius getting 40 miles to the gallon would pay $1.50 at the per-mile rate, but would pay only 75 cents tax currently at the pump. It hardly seems fair to reward those who drive gas guzzlers and penalize hybrid drivers. It's also worth noting that a full-size pickup will cause more road wear per mile than a compact hybrid, especially when fully loaded. Charging higher rates for less efficient vehicles might make a per-mile tax more fair, but it would be sure to generate controversy. It would be tough to choose a mileage cutoff point between one rate and the next, for instance. Everyone agrees that roads need to be maintained, but paying for it is never pleasant. The best solution might be to increase the per-gallon tax. But if it were that easy, it would have been done already. http://www.mailtribune.com/article/20141029/OPINION/141029636 © 2015 Copyright © 1995-2011 Crain Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. Terms of Use Privacy Statement -->