Florida toll and tax hikes because too many hybrid vehicles on the road

pingnak, I agree. States often build more roads than they can maintain, even roads to nowhere. Greedy developers can buy isolated land cheap (maximizing their profit), but taxpayers are stuck paying to build the infrastructure to reach it.

Brett, good point. A mileage-based fee would be very difficult to enforce. Yes, the thought makes me smile.

SageBrush, you're right and Florida is wrong. I don't think the average fuel economy for the US fleet of vehicles has gone up dramatically. Less fuel is being used because people are driving fewer miles -- to save money in a tough economy. The government is here to help by seizing those savings. We live within our budgets. They spend without restraint.

 

The problem with 'cheating' comes in when the car is smogged/inspected, or the title is transferred, and the odometer is read by someone who doesn't give a crap about you. Every garage, oil change place, tire shop, etc. would certainly be forced to participate and report your odometer + your VIN/plate.

Let alone cars, like ones with OnStar, that call home over the cellular network to report the stats direct from the 'brain', including odometer. Along with GPS coordinates for everywhere the car has ever been (like 'smart' phones, OnStar records everywhere you go, EVEN IF you don't have it activated). Ever thought about how you'd feel if you found a GPS tracker on your car? Hell, it probably has one built in, and your cell phone is doing it to you wherever you go, too.

Anyways, whatever you do to block the realtime tracking, the other methods of tracking will catch you. Then you get to pay it all at once. Mess with the odometer? Now you've already broken all kinds of laws, and get 'tax evasion' slapped on top, too.

 

For years and years when anyone complained about their utility bill- our electric supplier drummed "conserve, conserve, conserve!" into our heads via TV, radio and print ads even flyers stuffed in with the utility bills. With the advent of modern LED and CF lighting, flat screen LCD/LED TV's, LED holiday lighting, smart thermostats and high efficiency air conditioners, etc... many consumers have actually significantly cut their electric consumption- up to 25% in some cases.
This has led to less billable electricity being consumed therefore the utility has asked the PSC for a rate increase (and was granted approval) to make up for lower income.
In it's plea to the PSC- the utility sited "less demand due to consumer conservation" as it's reason for the rate increase request.

 

Yes, they're sending us mixed messages about conservation.

 

The simplest way around these taxes would be to telecommute. You'll hardly put any miles on the car at all.

Perhaps ride an e-bike, assuming less than 20 miles of commute, that doesn't require freeway access. And you can use bike paths, certain sidewalks (the kinds with NO driveways), etc. Especially useful in any kind of 'bike friendly' community with mild weather.

E-bikes are regulated as a powered bicycle, rather than a motorcycle, and have a speed limiter (around 25MPH though you can pedal to make it go faster). In some cases, the limiter would be much easier to defeat than an odometer, but you would have to beef up tires, brakes and your safety gear accordingly.

No license/insurance/fees required. And the batteries are usually removable, so you can carry them inside with you to charge, effectively doubling the electric range, if you have somewhere to plug it in. Or you can get to work with no sweat, and pedal home for your daily workout.

 

Not that I'd recommend riding, or even walking in Florida. As I recall, it's about the most pedestrian HATEFUL place there is. Orlando was miles and miles of ungodly urban sprawl with no sidewalks, no crosswalks, no nothing.

Nothing but car mirrors whizzing at your back at 60+MPH, or hip deep grass with mud and snakes and snapping turtles and gators and bugs, one inch to the right.

 

Reading through these posts I have to agree that a tax for weight would make more sense than per mile. Or maybe a weight + per mile maybe even more fair. That would determine who was causing the most wear and tear on our highways and they would be taxed accordingly.

As for mileage, the place that does your annual inspections records your mileage. In NC you are given the inspection report to review before signing so you have an opportunity to verify the correct mileage. In NC this inspection report is transferred electronically to the DMV. You must have this electronic inspection on file before you can renew your registration. There is no reason that this mileage could not be displayed again on the registration renewal form. I would prefer this over any GPS type recording device.

I am sure the naysayers will point out all of the ways to cheat this system but this seems reasonable to me.

 

For now most of the anticipated improvements in fuel economy will be from down sizing vehicle size. If wear and tear is related to weight, then less tax income will be needed for less wear and tear.

 

Tax per mpg. The lower the mpg the higher the tax you pay All those Bubba's would be helping us have nice smooth roads for our Prii

Mike

 

Saying the per gallon tax is unfair doesn't add up for me.

It would be like someone at mcdonalds saying that woman over there is eating a small salad and a water and only paid 12 cents in tax. But i ate a double quarter pounder meal super sized, with a extra shake and cookie and i had to pay 60 cents in tax. Thats unfair that i eat like a pig and have to pay more in taxes.....

 

This same discussion has been going on in Oregon. I haven't seen any proposal that seem really well thought out to me yet.

The gas tax has a lot going for it.
- It's relatively easy to collect.
- It applies to anyone who drives in the state, whether their car is registered here or not.
- If you can't afford to pay it, you can't drive. (vs the number of drivers who let their "mandated" insurance lapse or fail to renew their tags)
- It's relatively hard to get out of or get around.
- Until hybrids, it was mostly fairly apportioned. If you used more gas, chances were good that your vehicle was also heavier and caused more damage to the roadways.

All of the proposals I've seen fall down in one area or another. GPS systems, for example, are probably relatively easy to hack, do not collect from vehicles that are registered in another state, and may be difficult to collect.

It's an interesting and challenging issue, because certainly we need our infrastructure maintained. I'm willing to pay my fair share. But I do want it to be fair.

 

If development $ comes from raised gas tax, then how do EV owners pay for road development? Via annual DMV registration fees?

Galaxy Nexus ? 2

 

If you're responding to my post, I don't know. Like I said, it's an interesting and challenging issue. There needs to be some way to make sure that every vehicle contributes, but I'm not sure what it is. Maybe higher registration fees on hybrids and EVs? There aren't a lot of good choices.

 

Tax electricity.

 

It appears Minnesota has lower registration fees for Hybrids as my first year plates were well under $400. A gasser car at $37k would have been $500 easily.

Mike

 

As cars get better milage it stands to reason that the states will need to rase the per gallon tax -- unfortunately this is politically difficult. When you look at the dollars collected in most states and the way it is actually spent -- Most states still get plenty of money. I'm sure will will see an increase in the use of EZpass to generate additional income ... and I don't think that it is unreasonable to charge pure electric vehicles an additional yearly registration fee. It you use 12k miles per year and factor in the gas tax part for the road use -- it works out to around $100.00 in may states -- so this is not a huge number.

 

But then that means a percentage of electricity tax would go to roads. Essentially you and I would pay via gas and electricity even though we don't have EV. The only thing that remotely makes sense is raised registration fees.

Galaxy Nexus ? 2

 

That is a brilliant idea LOL
Since no one wants to pay the 10+ gallon surcharge, the manufacturers stop making tanks larger than 10 gallons. Merkins discover range anxiety en-masse as their SUVs are stranded after 90 miles. People flock to EVs to solve the problem.