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(CALIFORNIA GLOBE) – For some years the idea of replacing the pay-at-the-pump gas tax with a “vehicle miles traveled” system has been floating in the civic ether. The reasoning took a few different paths, mostly centered around the issue of the fairness of “user fees” compared to purchase taxation, an idea that was boosted by the proliferation of non-gas using vehicles like electric cars (why am I paying gas taxes for the roads when the Tesla driver pays nothing?, etc.)
A very few states have already and/or are conducting pilot programs to test the idea and California and the federal government are in the process of evaluating how a VMT tax would work.
The first state to dip its toe in the gas pool was Oregon, which signed up about 700 people who tracked their mileage and then submitted the records to the state for reconciliation. Oregon declared the effort a success (though it should be noted the participants were highly-motivated volunteers) and is now moving forward on the possibility of a mandatory program.
As this issue will be definitely coming to the fore very shortly, we’ve put together a primer on the terms and concepts that will be bandied about in the coming months and years. (Please note – we hope not to get as far into the weeds as a Mendocino County national forest and the impacts may be larger than they appear in the mirror).
