Imagine that I have a car that averages 25mpg, and I drive 12,000 miles per year, all of that within the state of Pennsylvania. I buy all my gas in Pennsylvania. I therefore buy 480 gallons of gas each year, and pay $0.587 dollars per gallon in state gasoline taxes, totaling roughly $280. These gasoline taxes presumably pay "my fair share" of the cost of building and maintaining the state road infrastructure in Pennsylvania. Parenthetically, I use the PA turnpike quite a bit, and pay a couple hundred a year in turnpike tolls as well. Pennsylvania has a separate Turnpike Commission, with a separate budget, etc.
So if I replace that car with an electric car, I will be paying some extra state taxes on my utility bill associated with the cost of charging the car, but those taxes don't go to fix the roads (unless you consider that all tax dollars are fungible in that sense).
The state legislature has begun considering a plan to charge a separate user fee (or whatever they call it) for owners of electric cars, so that they, too, will pay their "fair share" to keep up the road infrastructure. Note that we do have a means of checking mileage on cars annually. The odometer reading is reported when a car is purchased, sold, and at least once a year, when it must pass a safety inspection by a certified mechanic. And it would be easy enough to require that everyone report the odometer readings on their cars when they file their state income taxes. That would capture almost all of the same vehicles/miles.
Then also, we must consider the federal taxes on gasoline. They must also get their taste. There is a Federal tax of $0.184 per gallon, thus accumulating to another $88 on top of the $280.
Would it be fair to charge me road infrastructure fees of $368 per year if I buy an electric car (prorated for actual mileage, of course). I calculate that that comes out to a fraction over $0.03/mile.
So if I replace that car with an electric car, I will be paying some extra state taxes on my utility bill associated with the cost of charging the car, but those taxes don't go to fix the roads (unless you consider that all tax dollars are fungible in that sense).
The state legislature has begun considering a plan to charge a separate user fee (or whatever they call it) for owners of electric cars, so that they, too, will pay their "fair share" to keep up the road infrastructure. Note that we do have a means of checking mileage on cars annually. The odometer reading is reported when a car is purchased, sold, and at least once a year, when it must pass a safety inspection by a certified mechanic. And it would be easy enough to require that everyone report the odometer readings on their cars when they file their state income taxes. That would capture almost all of the same vehicles/miles.
Then also, we must consider the federal taxes on gasoline. They must also get their taste. There is a Federal tax of $0.184 per gallon, thus accumulating to another $88 on top of the $280.
Would it be fair to charge me road infrastructure fees of $368 per year if I buy an electric car (prorated for actual mileage, of course). I calculate that that comes out to a fraction over $0.03/mile.
