NJ Senator wants to tax electric cars...

[tony357 386]

No more free ride for electric cars..  Time to pay up road tax...

 

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2013/05/pay_by_the_mile_thats_the_prop.html

 

 

 

TRENTON — Realizing that his plan to charge motorists based on the number of miles traveled would be a dead end with colleagues, state Sen. Jim Whelan (D-Atlantic) today said he was amending his proposal to include only alternative fuel vehicles.

One newspaper referred to Whelan's initial proposal -- which would have charged motorists by the mile, similar to a cab driver who sets fares based on distance traveled -- as the "worst idea out there."

Whelan said he wanted to start a conversation about the state’s depleted Transportation Trust Fund, which pays for road and bridge projects and has no long-term stable source of funding.

“While it may be the worst idea, I would argue that it also is the best idea, because, quite frankly, it is the only idea that is out there at this time to deal with this problem,” he said.

Under the amendment, Whelan proposes that owners of green energy vehicles pay a flat fee of around $50 as their fair share for driving the same roads as people who pay gas taxes.

"They literally get a free ride," he said.

Whelan acknowledged that alternative-fuel vehicles make up just 2 percent of New Jersey's vehicles, but expectations are that it will get up to 10 percent or more.

NJ Sierra Club Director Jeff Tittel called it an "unfair tax" on alternative-fuel vehicles and noted that it smacks against other efforts by lawmakers to encourage people to be less reliant on gas-powered cars.

"No one wants to raise taxes, but let's have a conversation," Whelan said.

Under the previous user-fee proposal (S2531), the vehicle owner would have paid 0.83906 cents per mile traveled. A motorist who puts on 20,000 miles a year would have paid $167.81 a year.

New Jersey’s gas tax is 10.5 cents per gallon, third-lowest in America, plus there is a 4-cent-per-gallon petroleum products gross receipt tax. If a car gets 20 miles to the gallon, a motorist traveling 20,000 miles a year would buy 1,000 gallons annually and pay $145 a year in fuel taxes.

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The vehicle’s odometer would have been read at the time of a purchase or sale and during vehicle inspections, plus the vehicle owner would be under the honors system for self-reporting the annual odometer reading to the state Motor Vehicle Commission.

The MVC could have audited a vehicle by requiring an owner to report to an inspection station, and fraudulent numbers would have prompted a fine, according to the proposal.

As the Senate Transportation Committee discussed the proposal during a hearing today at the State House Annex in Trenton, Whelan mentioned his Plan B.

RELATED COVERAGE

• As gas taxes grow obsolete, pay-per-mile taxes are a smart alternative: Editorial

• Opinion: Raising N.J. gas tax would be mistake for overtaxed residents

• Report: Gas tax, car charges only cover half the cost of road maintenance

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Shocker 151]

Good. Eff 'em.

 

Of course the greenies want to continue using the roads without paying their share to maintain them.

[boostsaves 0]

Everyone else gets taxed to drive the roads.

[67gtonut 847]

I hate Hybrids.... just sayin

[Babyface Finster 45]

I am firmly against giving the state of NJ any additional revenue streams. Let the state be accountable for the money they already waste.

[anactivegrenade 25]

OR, I have a better idea!!!!!

We could remove the tax on gasoline, and EVERY OTHER GOOD WE PURCHASE! 'Cause, you know, free-market capitalism works darn well?

[voyager9 3,441]

While part of me rallies against any new form of tax.. as I believe the Government will simply take advantage of it, at least they're recognizing that the current model using a tax on gas is becoming out-dated.

 

I don't think singling out the hybrid users is a great idea but at least I understand the logic.

[Howard 538]

I've got a much better idea -stop wasting money on road paving.  We all know how much money the state wastes on road paving.  They use the cheapest (mafia controlled?) labor and the cheapest materials and as soon as they are done paving it is time to start again because the roads don't last.  Stop going the low bid route and we will save lots of money.  In many other countries the contractor is responsible for road maintenance for a set period of time.  By doing this you end up with the lowest life-cycle cost for the road, rather than cheap installation that costs huge bucks to maintain.

[Cemeterys Gun Blob 165]

anybody else notice that if you take out references to gas, hybrids, and alternative fuel cars, and insert anything about guns and gun control it would be basically the same bunch of $hit?

 

Start a conversation.

 

Fair Share.

 

Fuk You.

[raz-0 1,259]

Look, if you like having roads to drive on, and since roads are funded primarily through fuel taxes, you are going to have to figure out how to pay for them in the face of declining demand for fuel for whatever the reason. 

 

The free market did not build our highway system, but it certainly does profit form the existence of it. I don't like taxes, but there are many things that are paid for by taxes that benefit the vast majority of people, and they are tax funded. I'd prefer for those things that we didn't waste that money, but spent it wisely. 

[Cold Steel 0]

I don't mind them paying "their fair share" but it seems the Rocket Scientists in Trenton will stick it to any small group that they don't feel could hurt them in an election. A few years ago they drastically increased registration fees on motorcycles, guess they figured there weren't enough motorcyclists to overthrow them from their throne. Sadly, so far they were right. They never seem to look within at all the wasteful spending that takes place under the Gold Dome. 

[JackDaWack 2,895]

I don't mind them paying "their fair share" but it seems the Rocket Scientists in Trenton will stick it to any small group that they don't feel could hurt them in an election. A few years ago they drastically increased registration fees on motorcycles, guess they figured there weren't enough motorcyclists to overthrow them from their throne. Sadly, so far they were right. They never seem to look within at all the wasteful spending that takes place under the Gold Dome. 

yup, fckin @$$ Holes..

[1LtCAP 4,264]

this is actually a necessity. it's one i've been warning my "green" friends about for a long time. as our cars get more efficient, the advent of hybrids, and electrics, the gas tax brings in less revenue. since that tax is in the general fund for years now, it's been struggling for awhile. now there's less coming in due to these. there's 2 choices. tax the hybrids/electrics, or raise the gas tax. they're gonna get the money somehow.

[gunguy1960 2]

They eat, sleep, and breath more ways to screw us over everyday. Every new dollar that comes into the government, they have already plan to spend two more. If non traditional vehicles are so good for the planet, that alone should offset their "tax exempt" status at the pump. Ever notice every question we vote on involves taking more of our money?

[1LtCAP 4,264]

i understand that. but anyone with more than 2 functioning brain cells had to know that there'd be some kind of new tax with the advent of hybrids/electrics. i think oregon's charging extra.....like $100 or so.....to register electrics.

 

 and through their entire lifespans, hybrids/electrics are frighteningly filthy.

[JSF01 13]

Wait if thats the best they can come up with, well don't worry I have one better for them. "STOP WAISTING ALL THE CURRENT TAX MONEY YOU COLLECT!" Well I just solved one goverment problem in all of two seconds, so I have time to solve a few more, so next problem.

[AlDente67 563]

Hybrids still require gas, just not as much.  So I guess they really mean all-electric. Electricity costs money in taxes too, last time I checked my utility bill.

But really, since the gas tax is a fixed percentage of the sale, and a gallon of gas is around $3.50 (on average, for the sake of argument), you would think the funding has sweetened up nicely since the days of $2.00 gas just a few years ago.  Where did it all go?

 

I don't believe that hybrids will make up 10% of the mass, as they claim.  Not in my lifetime.  So dinging the 50 Chevy Volt owners $100 per year is going to pay for repaving Route 1?