One of the Democrats running for the House of Delegates in Virginia is proposing that we “charge vehicle property taxes in a way that corresponds to each driver’s contribution to congestion and excessive road wear, e.g., by weight of vehicles.” Democrat Sue Conrad is running for Delegate against Tim Hugo in the 40th District, and she proposed this idea on her website. Conrad stands in favor of taxing your SUV or Minivan (if you own both, make that a double tax).
Considering that the 40th District (which comprises of Clifton and Centreville’s many back roads), many residents own either a SUV or Minivan. Do they deserve an additional tax for their vehicles? No. In fact, Conrad is proposing another nanny state regulation that will not address the transportation woes facing many commuters in her district. In this economy, many people can not afford to be slammed with another useless tax.
One can quibble about the desirability and efficacy of gas taxes as elements of the state government funding equation. But taxes that are intended for specific uses (e.g., road maintenance, transportation infrastructure) probably should bear some close relationship to the burdens imposed on shared public assets. A transportation tax intended to fund road repairs probably should reflect the weight of the vehicle. The heavier the vehicle is, the more wear it imposes on the road surface. This isn’t nanny state stuff, it’s just a means to allocate tax burdens in proportion to infrastructure use. So this seems fairly unremarkable to me. It actually seems somewhat more “conservative” than a number of taxes already in place.
Going back to the gas tax, it does correlate directly to road use. And if one doesn’t like the tax, he can grant himself a decrease by driving less. These kinds of taxes and tax concepts are infinitely better than ad valorem property taxes on buildings and vehicles.
NoVA Scout,
Actually, while less then perfect, the current tax code does reflect the weight of the vehicle. I drive a tractor trailer. In addition to paying the fuel tax according to the average miles per gallon my vehicle gets (industry average about 6.0 MPG) I additionally pay the annual, federal Heavy Vehicle Use Tax (HVUT) and a 12% Federal Excise Tax (FET) on the first retail sale of a heavy vehicle. I do not think I am overestimating by stating that this year I will have paid over $20,000 in taxes towards road maintenance.
It is impossible for trucks to legally avoid paying the fuel tax in Virginia. Even if a truck buys zero fuel in Virginia, the taxes must be paid, in accordance with the International Fuel Tax Agreement (IFTA), on fuel consumed in Virginia.
Trucking organizations such as the American Trucking Associations (ATA) and Owner Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) support increased fuel taxes over tolls when increased revenues for transportation are required. Occasionally the industry support for such increased taxes have been criticized as being a case of self interest. However this support is not industry specific, just pro-business. Last year, even the President and CEO of the national Chamber of Commerce testified in a Congressional hearing that fuel taxes are the way to go.
There are problems with the fuel tax long term. In the short term, citizens will be motivated to adopt alternative fuels and ride on the roads tax free. However the trucking industry realizes that those using alternative fuels will lessen the demand for crude oil based fuels resulting in lower prices for the diesel fuel we depend on. We’ll pick up the tab for them with the taxes we pay for road maintenance. Long term a different model of raising transportation revenue will have to be agreed on. But for now, increased fuel taxes also motivates lessening our dependence on foreign oil.
Tolls do none of the above. Too large an amount of the tolls paid goes towards paying for the cost of collecting the tolls. If someone wants to point to tollroads as being the big government solution because it lessens the unemployment rate by putting more citizens on the public payroll? Well of course, if you are in favor of that, tollroads accomplish what you want. But the trucking industry and the business community at large does not want the funding of transportation to become an extension of the Welfare program.