Highway Robbery The new DMV director has proposed scrapping California's current fuel tax and instead substituting a tax based on the miles you drive. A bit of background: California's highways have traditionally been funded by fuel taxes - principally an 18-cent per gallon excise tax and a sales tax that averages 7.9 percent. It is simple and efficient to collect and provides a rough approximation of proportional use: the heavier the vehicle or the more it is used, the more fuel it uses and the more tax it pays. This system also provides a natural discount to the most fuel-efficient...