LINK
Posted on 06/09/2013 10:45:57 PM PDT by NoLibZone
North Carolina is joining a growing number of states exploring new fees for hybrid and electric car owners to help make up for revenue those drivers aren’t paying in gas taxes on their fuel-efficient vehicles.
The proposal strikes many owners of alternative-fuel vehicles and some advocacy groups as a wrong-headed approach to balancing priorities of promoting U.S. energy independence with sustainable infrastructure funding. But policymakers and some experts argue taxing hybrid and electric vehicle owners is a matter of making sure all drivers help maintain the roads they use and construct new ones.
(Excerpt) Read more at fuelfix.com ...
Would they keep the tax rebates and add fee? This seems logical but I live in So Cal
If they can't collect tax because consumers have an alternative to having to pay for gas at the pump then TAX their butts directly because they're not spending at the pump.
They government expects the MONEY to be there and when it isn't they simply push their hand a little deeper into your pocket and TAKE it.
I wonder when it will dawn on them that cutting spending might work better than taxing.
Yes, we need a clean air tax for everyone who does not smoke.
Next they’ll tax the clean lungs of ex-smokers to recoup taxes lost from cigarettes they no longer are buying.
I live in So Cal too. You know this state taxes everything.
more reason pushing the reset closer.
They should bill non-smokers for all the lost cigarette taxes these people are costing their governments.
Do you really want to cut spending for highway maintenance? If you want to argue that govt. spends highway money inefficiently, I suppose I would agree with you; but if you are arguing that we have too many roads, I'm not with you at all. The gas tax is more of a user fee than a tax. It is the one form of taxation that seems reasonable and fair to me. If you don't drive, you don't pay.
The problem is that the highway fund often gets raided to pay for all the other crap the legislators have larded the state down with. If they cut those back, they wouldn’t need to raid the highway fund.
SPENDING in general at most government levels needs to be examined for waste and fraud first, then in duplication of services.
If they did that alone they could not only repair highways they could build new ones.
I’m definitely with you when it comes to wasting money on bike paths, buses that nobody rides, and anything else that doesn’t involve building/maintaining roads. My point is just that we need roads; we need to pay for them; and fuel taxes are a really good way to do it.
OK, it is my position that general tax revenue should not be used to pay for highways. The people who use the roads should pay for them in the form of user fees (fuel taxes).
Think of the unfairness of taxing railroads to pay to build highways for their competition.
Can’t shed too many tears for hybrid owners, but the article does mention that mileage taxes are being pushed harder and harder, and they will arrive - along with the government databases of where, when, and what, EVERYONE drives. And that is ONLY because people will not permit an increase in the gas tax to cover for inflation.
If you have the where and when, you also have the "how fast", and thus automated ticket delivery and direct withdrawals of fines from your bank account (courtesy of the IRS Obamacare department) become possible. If you have the when and where, you also have information about what you were doing at your destination, and who else is there at the same time. Spending too much time at a bar (drunk driving)? Attending Tea Party rallys (subversive activities)? Hanging out at flea markets (tax evasion)?
One of the ‘unintended’ (but knowable) continuing costs unique to electric vehicles is when battery replacement time comes at 5-8 years. While many companies include the 1st replacement in the warranty, anyone who has replaced a standard auto battery knows that there is a ‘environment/dumping’ fee added to that operation. Given the nature of the beast of government, there is much room for surprise fees to be tacked on here.
As many, including my favorite author RA Heinlein, have said; “Taxes are not levied for the benefit of the taxed.” -Lazarus Long, Time Enough for Love.
Gee, someone using the roads shouldn’t have to bear the tax burden for building and maintaining the roads they are using, just because they have a hybrid? That’s a non-starter.
I completely agree with those decrying the misuse of road tax funds for other uses. Especially bike lanes and mass transit.
Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeexactly!
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