topher5150
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They are desperate to make you want to hate your car aren't they
With federal gas tax revenue unable to cover the full cost of highway maintenance and electric vehicles poised to cut into the collection, is it time to consider a per-mile tax on all automobiles?
The Obama administration disowned the idea Thursday after a draft bill leaked online that reportedly had been shared by officials in the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Office of Management and Budget.
May 5, The Hill: The White House, however, said the bill is only an early draft that was not formally circulated within the administration.
"This is not an administration proposal," White House spokeswoman Jennifer Psaki said. "This is not a bill supported by the administration. This was an early working draft proposal that was never formally circulated within the administration, does not taken into account the advice of the president’s senior advisers, economic team or Cabinet officials, and does not represent the views of the president."
The draft bill proposed the creation of a Surface Transportation Revenue Alternatives Office within the Federal Highway Administration that would conduct trials and examine the potential for "a mileage-based user fee system" and other alternative revenue sources over the course of several years.
While a mileage tax might be unpopular politically, a report released earlier this year by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office suggested that combining a per-mile charge with federal fuel taxes could be a viable way to "enhance" revenue for road repairs.
The government currently collects a per-gallon gas tax of 18.4 cents (24.2 cents on diesel), a rate which Congress last set in 1993 and is unlikely to raise amidst public outcry over rising prices at the pump.
But the CBO report said current revenue is unable to cover federal highway spending, noting that the treasury has pumped an extra $30 million into the system since 2008. However, new technology such as "electronic metering and billing are making per-mile charges a practical option" for supplementing gas taxes.
In a recent Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of 1,000 American adults, 72 percent of respondents opposed a mileage tax and 74 percent opposed raising the gas tax.
Read the leaked draft bill and the CBO report via The Hill.
http://www.mlive.com/auto/index.ssf/2011/05/a_pay-per_mile_auto_tax_obama.html
With federal gas tax revenue unable to cover the full cost of highway maintenance and electric vehicles poised to cut into the collection, is it time to consider a per-mile tax on all automobiles?
The Obama administration disowned the idea Thursday after a draft bill leaked online that reportedly had been shared by officials in the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Office of Management and Budget.
May 5, The Hill: The White House, however, said the bill is only an early draft that was not formally circulated within the administration.
"This is not an administration proposal," White House spokeswoman Jennifer Psaki said. "This is not a bill supported by the administration. This was an early working draft proposal that was never formally circulated within the administration, does not taken into account the advice of the president’s senior advisers, economic team or Cabinet officials, and does not represent the views of the president."
The draft bill proposed the creation of a Surface Transportation Revenue Alternatives Office within the Federal Highway Administration that would conduct trials and examine the potential for "a mileage-based user fee system" and other alternative revenue sources over the course of several years.
While a mileage tax might be unpopular politically, a report released earlier this year by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office suggested that combining a per-mile charge with federal fuel taxes could be a viable way to "enhance" revenue for road repairs.
The government currently collects a per-gallon gas tax of 18.4 cents (24.2 cents on diesel), a rate which Congress last set in 1993 and is unlikely to raise amidst public outcry over rising prices at the pump.
But the CBO report said current revenue is unable to cover federal highway spending, noting that the treasury has pumped an extra $30 million into the system since 2008. However, new technology such as "electronic metering and billing are making per-mile charges a practical option" for supplementing gas taxes.
In a recent Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of 1,000 American adults, 72 percent of respondents opposed a mileage tax and 74 percent opposed raising the gas tax.
Read the leaked draft bill and the CBO report via The Hill.
http://www.mlive.com/auto/index.ssf/2011/05/a_pay-per_mile_auto_tax_obama.html