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Follow TURFTax for every mile you drive?
The idea of taxing motorists for every mile they drive is certainly not new, but it's getting closer to becoming reality with the announcement that the Transportation Commission (appointed by Governor Rick Perry) has commissioned a study of the viability of such a taxing scheme. This "study" will be presented to the lawmakers for its consideration in the 2011 legislative session.
So far, the reaction among the grassroots and talk radio pundits seems to be a unanimous "No way!" No one wants big daddy government taking up residence in their personal vehicle and monitoring every mile they drive, nor does going from paying a tax by the GALLON to paying a tax for every MILE sound like a good deal for the taxpayers. Seems an awful lot like taxing the air we breathe!
Though there are ways to track mileage without satellite tags or black boxes placed in your car, like odometer readings, those methods are rife with problems, like being charged for out of state driving (with "deductions" for out of state driving likely being self-reported/recorded, which is ripe for such abuses, and others, like a motorist modifying his/her odometer reading to pay less tax).
By far, the most affordable and fair way to fund roads is still the gas tax. All the talk says that the gas tax is becoming obsolete due to fuel efficiency, but that's generally hyperbole. In Texas, gas tax revenues have risen steadily for decades; only recently did revenues go flat due to extraordinary economic circumstances when gas prices peaked at $4.00 a gallon in 2008, with a slight dip in driving continuing in the current economic downturn (only natural with high unemployment).
So the reasons for the dip in revenues had little to nothing to do with fuel efficiency and everything to do with the affordability of driving. It's a function of basic economics: as the price goes up, driving goes down. Given the fact tolls are the most expensive way to fund roads, Perry's reliance on toll road proliferation only means we're building a massive network of underutilized roads few can afford to drive. Just look no further than SH 130 in Austin where the toll road was so empty during rush hour that a distressed plane used it for an emergency landing!
Toll roads don't solve congestion for the vast majority of commuters, nor are they particularly good at raising money for government since massive taxpayer subsidies have been the norm for Perry's toll projects. These toll projects are good at greasing the wheels of road contractors and corporations involved in financing the deals by privatizing the profits and socializing the losses.
While inflation is a legitimate concern with the current gas tax (hasn't been raised since 1991), gas tax revenues have continued to rise (well beyond inflation and population) until 2008, in spite of inflation eating into the 20 cent per gallon tax. With 400 toll projects being contemplated and/or implemented around the state, the increase in the cost of transportation (and the public debt to subsidize them, went from zero to $12 billion on Perry's watch) is guaranteed to rise exponentially (compare 1-2 cents per mile now in gas tax, versus 25 cents to 75 cents PER MILE in new toll taxes) unless Perry's toll policies are reversed, and fast.
Senate Transportation Committee Chairman, Senator John Carona, said the gas tax is still a viable source of funding roads for at least the next 20 years. We'd add one caveat to that - not unless the legislature stops raiding the gas tax for things that have nothing to do with transportation. It's real easy to make that dedicated fund disappear when politicians continue to raid it. Politicians lack the spine to address these abuses and fear raising the gas tax is political suicide, but so is levying a tax for every mile we drive, government monitoring of our personal movements, and handing our Texas roads over to foreign corporations in corporate toll road monopolies (which Perry has mandated on his watch).
It's more than invasion of privacy
Let's hope Texans are never "ready" to cede their personal liberty so that government can levy a new tax on every mile we drive (really it's like making every road a toll road). Ultimately, it seems like an excuse to exert more government control over our freedom to travel. Once we open the door, the floodgates could fly open with it. One study by the University of Iowa is already contemplating a way for government to hijack a person's vehicle and keep it from starting if a motorist was behind on paying their road taxes.
One thing's for sure, government doesn't study such an expansive policy shift unless it thinks it will make more money on this new alternative. And does anyone honestly think they'd EVER repeal the gas tax as promised (to make way for this mileage tax)? There's one thing taxpayers have learned by experience: a tax, once levied, never goes away, and if it goes anywhere, it goes up.
Check it out...
Listen in to a radio interview on this topic with Dallas KRLD Newsradio "Beyond the Headlines" anchor, Scott Braddock, and me here.