How to Pay for Our Highways?

How to Pay for Our Highways?

  • Raise the Gas Tax, XXX Amount

    Votes: 17 32.7%

  • Annual Fee, Eliminate Federal Gas Tax

    Votes: 4 7.7%

  • Toll/User Fee for All Federal Highways

    Votes: 5 9.6%

  • Make it a State Issue, Federal Gov. Releases Control

    Votes: 8 15.4%

  • Do Nothing

    Votes: 18 34.6%
  • Total voters
    52
JB1842 said:
I'm holding out hope that since this is an actual change to the state constitution and not a regulatory change, there will be a better chance of this succeeding.
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"Succeeding at what?" is the question that remains.
 
In the last 12 months our state tripled the tolls, increased the sales tax 20% (from 5% to 6%) and added a 5.6% tax on gas. All sold on improving the roads. Most of the money of course goes to a boondoggle of a train system though. Roads still stink.

No, more taxes is not part of the solution...
 
Due to the decreased volume of gasoline sole due to increased mpg requirements and hybrids, the income from fuel taxes is down.

There was a proposal to "flat fee" based on annual milage driven. That gets reported every year with the smog check. There was even a proposal to base the fee based on GPS logging of highway used and time of day. Stay off the major highways during peak commuter times and pay a lower fee.
 
I think transponder based on Gross Weight. No fuel sales required, treats fuel cell, battery, combustion, all the same. You use the roads, you pay based on wear and tear regardless your fuel source.
 
Here in Texas we have a perennial problem of the "gas/transportation taxes" being spent for other than highways. They need to stop diverting money from where it was intended. Personally, I think you should only pay for the roads if you use them, and proportionately as well.
 
Here where I live the local propane company owner likes to drive his company 18 wheeler home every day. The road is limited to 28,000 pounds and I know his 18 wheeler weighs a minimum of 42,000. I mentioned that to him one day and now he stops to fill my propane tank every other month and doesn't charge me.
 
Honestly the gas tax is the best way to do it. It's the closest you're going to come to a true pay proportional to use system. Heavier vehicles burn more gas so you pay more tax. Drive a lot.... more gas, more tax. Drive a super fuel efficient car across town once a week.... less gas, less road wear, less tax paid. Built in incentives for hybrids.

I don't want to pay by gross weight, that's BS. I have a heavy truck that I drive rarely... mostly to haul/tow things or when there's heavy snow. I probably put <5k miles on it. Yet I'm going to pay the same as another guy who drove 100k? I don't like it.

Pay by the mile? Great now I've got to start logging my miles or dealing with some kind of transponder. I actually own several older vehicles that are pretty much hobby cars. Am I going to have to fit everything I own with this transponder or pay by axle or gross weight on a vehicle that is driven <1k/year?

This all just sounds like a lot of hassle, new infrastructure, and bureaucracy..... headaches waiting to happen. Just raise the fuel tax enough to cover things and be done with it.
 
cowman said:
Honestly the gas tax is the best way to do it. It's the closest you're going to come to a true pay proportional to use system. Heavier vehicles burn more gas so you pay more tax. Drive a lot.... more gas, more tax. Drive a super fuel efficient car across town once a week.... less gas, less road wear, less tax paid. Built in incentives for hybrids.

I don't want to pay by gross weight, that's BS. I have a heavy truck that I drive rarely... mostly to haul/tow things or when there's heavy snow. I probably put <5k miles on it. Yet I'm going to pay the same as another guy who drove 100k? I don't like it.

Pay by the mile? Great now I've got to start logging my miles or dealing with some kind of transponder. I actually own several older vehicles that are pretty much hobby cars. Am I going to have to fit everything I own with this transponder or pay by axle or gross weight on a vehicle that is driven <1k/year?

This all just sounds like a lot of hassle, new infrastructure, and bureaucracy..... headaches waiting to happen. Just raise the fuel tax enough to cover things and be done with it.
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Yep, everything gets a transponder. In FL they are on most everything anyway. You can get them as a 1"x1" sticker that costs nothing.

People don't want to pay taxes, they think everyone should have to pay their own way. Welcome to the nightmare that will cause.
 
All I can say is watch out for the toll roads. Here in DFW we have become addicted to them. Of course like anything else the price never does anything but go up. We were originally supposed to make them non-toll roads once they were paid for, nope, never happened.
 
Acting like any tax is paying for something specific (the premise of the original question) is disingenuous in a world where all of the taxes combined don't cover the interest payment on the spending.
 
denverpilot said:
Acting like any tax is paying for something specific (the premise of the original question) is disingenuous in a world where all of the taxes combined don't cover the interest payment on the spending.
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Good of you to notice, but it's not just the interest on spending. We don't have to spend money to owe on it. Every dollar produced during quantitative easing whether printed or in electrons has an origination fee and interest due since that origination. Half of that money is stored in Federal reserve accounts collect interest for them, and paying interest to the disbursement banks that put it back on deposit there. We get to pay 2 banking institutions fees for money that is not even in circulation in our economy, and once it enters the economy, the cost goes way up from there. All because someone said so.
 
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