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State to Track Auto Movements with GPS
WorldNet Daily ^
| Posted: December 31, 2002, 1:00 a.m. Eastern
| © 2002 WorldNetDaily.com
Posted on 12/31/2002 1:17:30 AM PST by abcraghead
Big Brother eyes taxes by the mile
State considers space-based technology to collect revenue
The latest proposal by government to collect tax revenue may seem out of this world – that's because it is.
The state of Oregon is considering the use of satellite technology to charge taxes based on how much mileage you drive your car.
The Road User Fee Task Force set up by lawmakers last year plans to ask the 2003 session to authorize testing of a vehicle-mileage tax, reports the Associated Press.
Oregon was the first state back in 1919 to adopt a gas tax, and today officials expect revenues to flatten as gas mileage improves and more hybrid cars come on line.
Jim Whitty, the task force administrator, says his group is looking at a per-mile charge of up to 1.25 cents to generate funds comparable to the current gas tax.
"We also have to have a way to track mileage only within the state," Whitty told the AP. This rules out basing the fee on odometer readings, which would include out-of-state driving.
"Technology has improved to the degree that this can be done, with an electronic device," he said.
The device in each car would be linked to a Global Positioning Satellite system, or GPS, which allows pinpoint navigation by bouncing signals off satellites.
The task force hopes to organize a test of this system if lawmakers approve, checking to see if the system even works, then conducting a yearlong evaluation.
There are several options for actually collecting fees. One is to send vehicle owners a monthly bill, another is to outfit gas stations so they can read vehicle transponders and collect the tax at fueling stops.
If you think the new method would do away with the tax on fuel, think again. In assessing the new levy, drivers would get credit for gas tax already paid.
To protect drivers' privacy, using the system to track cars in real time would be illegal. New cars would be required to have the GPS technology. Owners of older cars would be allowed to take part by retrofitting them.
A final decision on the proposal is not expected to come until the 2005 legislative session at the earliest.
TOPICS: Business/Economy; Constitution/Conservatism; Government; US: Oregon
KEYWORDS: dmv; gps; oregon; stupidideas
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Needless to say, this is something that would only be thought of in Oregon!
Question: How do they intend to solve a budget shorrfall, by buying billions of dollars of GPS equipment to make us buy from DMV for our cars? Not to mention how long this would be tied up in court over civil liberties issues....
Oh, and of course, there's the issue of, would it work? No, I know, the tech is there to do it. But you are forgetting who'd be implementing it. When the city of Portland computerized it's water billing system, the billes went out *one year* late and heavily inlfated. And of course the DMV itself grossly overspent on it's last computer binge. Who's to say you wouldn't get a bill, or better yet, a cahrge on your credit card, to the tune of nine million miles?
To: abcraghead
Geez. They keep on finding new and inventive ways to tax people, don't they.
They preach fuel efficiency and hike taxes in part to encourage people to buy cars that guzzle less gas. It works, and now they try to find a new way to screw you over. Will it ever end?
To: abcraghead
"HalfWhitty"
To: abcraghead
Will this system also include trucks. I already smell a strike if it does. Thank God for truckers.
To: abcraghead
The device in each car would be linked to a Global Positioning Satellite system, or GPS, which allows pinpoint navigation by bouncing signals off satellites. Technical illiterate alert!
To: abcraghead
Is this whole country beginning to sound just a little bit like the old Soviet Union? Pretty soon, they'll just send big brother government to stand outside your place of work on friday & you can just hand over your paycheck to them! First cigarettes & now gas mileage! What next?????
To: abcraghead
It would take years to get every vehicle retrofitted.
With the way things are done here in Oregon it would most likely cost more to impose the program than fees ever collected.
Oregon seems to try and be on the cutting edge but to many dumb asses running the show. IMO.
To: oceanperch
I'm glad to see an Oragonean here. This is a dangerous precedent, tracking the location of every car. Naturally, law enforcers will demand it be used to help catch speeders, etc.
Am I correct in saying that many people in Oregon are survivalists? Won't this idea meet a firestorm of opposition?
To: abcraghead
The whole thing is so sad, it's funny, but this line takes the cake: "Owners of older cars would be allowed to take part by retrofitting them."
To: abcraghead
Do people wonder if the left is trying to trash the West so badly that when the Mexicans annex it we won't complain about it?
To: abcraghead
Owners of older cars would be allowed to take part by retrofitting them.Bwahahahahaha!
11
posted on
12/31/2002 2:42:01 AM PST
by
metesky
To: abcraghead
Gawrsh, Mickey, don't they have a device that does this neato mileage measuring stuff already--called an ODOMETER?
What a colossal waste of taxpayers' money and an obvious attempt to infringe on freedom of movement!
To: madfly
ping
To: Arthur Wildfire! March
The conservative folks here tend to live in rural and the sheep and libs in the populated areas.
I live in a small fishing town which seperates me from the big cities by a mountain range and about four hrs of driving.
Sorry other than that I cannot be much help.
Blackie or Waterdragon are the ones to contact.
To: Yakboy
Very good point.
To: abcraghead
To: Grampa Dave; Carry_Okie; Libertarianize the GOP; Free the USA; EBUCK; ATOMIC_PUNK; DoughtyOne; ...
GPS ping
17
posted on
12/31/2002 4:15:56 AM PST
by
madfly
To: GAGOPSWEEPTOVICTORY
They keep on finding new and inventive ways to tax people, don't they
Maybe they can measure CO2 concentrations from up there and tax us on how much air we breathe.
Now my advice for those who die
Declare the pennies on your eyes
'Cause I'm the taxman, yeah, I'm the taxman
And you're working for no one but me
Taxman!
- The Beatles
To: abcraghead
Just wait till the state police (or is that police state) discover that if you can track mileage, then you can also track speed.
To: oceanperch
It would take years to get every vehicle retrofitted. On Star, etc. on new vehicles. No retrofit needed! Thank Got for my old '85 Ford F-150!!!
Boonie Rat
MACV SOCOM, PhuBai/Hue '65-'66
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