Oregon DOT tests VMT tax

Two-tiered rate

Jon Boyd, Aug 17, 10.

Oregon is testing a Vehicle Miles Traveled Tax, reports the Columbus Dispatch:

The Oregon Department of Transportation tested replacing the state’s gasoline tax with a vehicle-miles-traveled, or VMT, tax.

Readers on gas pumps accessed computers mounted in volunteer participants’ cars to download information about how many miles the car had traveled in different tax zones. There was one charge for miles traveled in a zone in and near Portland and a lower rate for miles driven in other parts of the state.

The system didn’t keep track of the actual route taken or when the trip was made.

The main problem for those who build and maintain roads is that gas-tax collections have dropped off or stagnated. The poor economy means people are driving less and vehicles are getting better gas mileage.

Since 2008, Congress has added billions of dollars in non-gas-tax money to transportation funding to make up for shortfalls in gas-tax revenue. In 2009, the federal stimulus also covered the gap.

[snip]

“The Congressional Budget Office has said there’s a $234 billion funding gap that exists between the current funding levels and the needs that are out there,” Jourdan said. “There’s this big gap, and currently there’s no real viable means other than raising the gas tax to fill that gap.”

A VMT tax is an alternative that should be considered for five to seven years out, he said.

We try to have it both ways: We have a national policy of increasing fuel economy and moving to non-gasoline vehicles and a system for funding highways that depends on fuel consumption.

“Every major manufacturer will have an electric vehicle out by 2012,” he said. “These things will be in our communities. We’ll have alternative fuel sources like (compressed natural gas) that aren’t tied to how we fund highways.”

The federal gas tax is 18.4 cents per gallon; the Texas gas tax is 20 cents per gallon.

More on VMT tax:
Texas to study Vehicles Miles Traveled tax

More on gas taxes:
Gas taxes dip to all-time low
LaHood: Raising the gas tax not an option
Four perspectives on gas taxes

(Photo credit: Doug Kerr)