rmay635703
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jan 19, 2011
- Messages
- 628
golfcart said:At the end of the day I think it points to a weakness is using the gas tax to fund roads. As fuel efficiency increases the funds dry up but there is still the need to maintain the infrastructure. It seems like a flat fee per vehicle across the board (like we pay with EV's), or even a miles driven fee to fund road maintenance would make more sense and any taxes on gas should be used to mitigate the issues caused by using gas...
No it doesn't
Those that damage the roads should pay for the roads. That is the gap that isn't covered.
Car traffic alone (under 3000lbs) would take centuries to damage a modern road.
Should car owners pay for the privilege to use a road they don't damage, subsidizing farmers and trucks?
Yes but that access is easily covered by gas taxes, no reason to charge more taxes to an individual driving a car;
(trucks, vans , SUVs maybe)
If we charge individual fees up to half of the tax will be lost to beuracracy , it costs our country billions of dollars to collect taxes from individuals already, gas tax on the other hand is the most efficient tax program to date , a small fraction of a percent of the tax is lost to maintaining collections. In Wisconsin it is estimated that an incrimental cost of $20,000 a year is needed to run the gas tax program which collects an inordinate amount of money.
Compare that to license plate fees which costs millions to administer and only collects a marginal amount more.
In my mind yearly plates and fees for individual cars, should be banned, the lost revenue should be piled into the gas tax. (Aka expanding Wisconsin's non expiring plate system would be a good start)
The amount spent to collect the tax would shrink and you would get more bang for your buck.
The system of taxing truckers should then be simplified and more aligned with reality.
The above changes would likely close the funding gap by spending less while collecting the same amount