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Featured Wisconsin yet again moving to add a special tax for Prius hybrids and plug ins

Discussion in 'Prius, Hybrid, EV and Alt-Fuel News' started by Rmay635703, Sep 8, 2017.

  1. Rmay635703

    Rmay635703 Senior Member

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    Sounds like you fully buy into the Koch brother sponsored "not paying their fair share" campaign nonsense.
    You do realize there are 50,000 200,000lb gross offenders in Wisconsin that pay zero road tax?
    Shouldn't we focus on loopholes first?

    Anyway,
    EVs are a non issue, Wisconsin has 0.05 % EVs on the road, 1.1% of all cars are non plug in hybrids.
    Not even close to a funding issue.

    Both leaf and Volt report energy use to big brother.

    It would take minimal effort to have a single energy tax pegging electric use to gas tax using publicly available info like volts stats.
    There should be no argument against a single energy tax.

    If we say vehicles are too efficient I have ZERO issue with the gas tax (or future state energy tax ) doubling or even tripling. Especially if we move to "permanent plates on private cars" and move to charging at a minimum sales tax on off road fuels which are exempt from all tax today and many off road vehicles go on the roads.

    This is not an issue in the Euro zone, why should high energy taxes be an issue here?

    Our state used to peg gas tax to inflation and it was set without any human interaction it just reflected the expenditures divided over annual fuel use.

    Seems to me that made more sense than a giant government expansion
     
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  2. Trollbait

    Trollbait It's a D&D thing

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    Only fair if everyone drove 12000 miles a year, or every car paid a minimum equal to the 25mpg car doing 12000 miles.

    As long as your heavier vehicles refer to commercial sized ones, I agree. A Sienna is only going to do a tiny bit more wear to the road surface than a Spark, neither are heavy enough to damage the road bed underneath. Then winters will likely damage the road faster than car traffic.

    Hovercraft just suck down the fuel though

    The federal fuel tax is flat. Inflation alone means road maintenance costs have outstripped the incoming revenue. Efficient use stretches a buck, but it can only do some much.
     
  3. El Dobro

    El Dobro A Member

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    But the state tax isn't fixed.
     
  4. Trollbait

    Trollbait It's a D&D thing

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    Won't that depend on the state.
     
  5. El Dobro

    El Dobro A Member

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    Isn't that what this thread's about, the state?
     
  6. DMC-5180

    DMC-5180 Active Member

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    Actually the gas tax is Fixed Rate per gallon and has not been adjusted to inflation since automatic inflation indexing was repealed in 2006.

    Currently the flat Wi state tax on a 30.9 cents plus 2 cents for a natural resources fund.

    Other DOT service fees have been raised at various times since then.
     
    #106 DMC-5180, Sep 27, 2017
    Last edited: Sep 27, 2017
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  7. El Dobro

    El Dobro A Member

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    What I'm saying is that the state legislators can change it to what they want, like they did in NJ.
     
  8. Trollbait

    Trollbait It's a D&D thing

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    If the lowest bid to repair a road is X, a government that is efficient with its money can't make the less than X funds it has equal X.

    And Pa, but they rather make political hay there by punishing a minority not of their base, and not actually solve their issue.
     
  9. Moving Right Along

    Moving Right Along Senior Member

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    You misunderstand me. My post in question was based on the assumption that the state's budget for road maintenance and repair was exceeded by their road repair costs and they wanted a new or additional revenue stream to help them pay for road work. It was also based on the assumption that a long-term solution to revenue generation should be energy-agnostic, so no one feels they are discriminated against.

    As a result, I believe the best way to increase revenue without penalizing people for owning a certain type of vehicle (gas, hybrid, electric, hydrogen, whatever) is by creating a tollway. Those who choose to use it will pay sufficient money to pay for road upkeep. Those who choose to take alternate routes have that option. And there is no discrimination against any type of car driven.

    The law that passed is highly discriminatory against hybrid and electric car owners. It makes no sense financially and only serves to punish people with more efficient vehicles for political reasons.
     
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  10. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    with the new electronic tolls, it's a very smooth and efficient system.
     
  11. Rmay635703

    Rmay635703 Senior Member

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    Wisconsin Department of Transportation


    Legislation Affecting DMV




    Mr Fitzgeralds Wisconsin is adding (once again) the $75 upcharge - 2009 era Prius tax on start stop and non plug in hybrids

    Standard trucks will pay $85 a year, in my area a Prius or start stop equipped car will pay $185

    And I’m not allowed to prepay my registration even a few months in advance .
     
  12. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

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    Sounds nuts. I would like to see Fed Govt withhold highway dollars to states that penalize hybrids.
    If they go to fair alternate system like per mile for all OK, but punitively slamming hybrids/stops start is nuts.
     
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  13. DMC-5180

    DMC-5180 Active Member

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    Amazing how, R legislators Hide there tax increases behind Fees and Surcharges. But won’t increase the road use gas tax to adjust for inflation.

    An $.08 gas tax increase would cost a driver that averages 12,000 mi per with a vehicle that averages 30 mpg combined. $32 per year increase.
    45 mpg = $21.30
     
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  14. bat4255

    bat4255 2017 Prius v #2 and 2008 Gen II #2

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    Death of the hybrid in WI.
     
  15. DMC-5180

    DMC-5180 Active Member

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    Not really. The reality is, you’re still saving money by not purchasing the extra gas of a less efficient vehicle. I don’t know any Prius Owners wanting to trade for gas guzzler pickups and SUV’s. The death of the hybrid will be because of the move to BEV’s. Toyota has seen a huge drop in demand for the Prius product line in the last 3 years. The number one reason is the Tesla Model 3.
     
  16. Rmay635703

    Rmay635703 Senior Member

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    https://www.google.com/amp/s/insideevs.com/news/363473/july-2019-ev-sales-recap/amp/

    EV sales and Hybrid sales are basically non existent in Wisconsin and the EV sales slowdown is now national .

    At Wisconsin’s gas tax rate a standard economy car only pays about $40 a year (for the number of miles I drive each car)
    Charging $75 extra on a hybrid that only saves a few dollars annually in fuel tax is ridiculous.

    What’s worse is republicans could have raised gas tax 8 cents to balance the budget, instead they raised fees, half of which are lost to DMV overhead
    All DMV fees in Wisconsin go to the general fund which does nothing to actually fund roads.

    My guess is this fee increase won’t solve the problem like the gas tax increase would have done and they will come back again wanting more money (heck it was only 8 months ago that fees were raised before)
     
    #116 Rmay635703, Aug 12, 2019
    Last edited: Aug 12, 2019
  17. Rmay635703

    Rmay635703 Senior Member

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    9E260ABB-A829-4FF6-81AD-F5B37C0F4FB7.jpeg

    And so it begins, my Volt and 20 year old Insight both pay $185 a year while my trucks last registration a month back was still $75

    Next year I can stop paying registration on the Insight (permanent plates), at this point might need to get rid of the Volt due to the registration + insurance cost is sky high and going higher (and I’m down to only paying for liability).
    The mathematics are starting to not work.

    Ah well
     
  18. DMC-5180

    DMC-5180 Active Member

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    I’ve got news for you. That collector plate could be very expensive for you in the short term.

    IMG_2105.JPG


    $185 x 2 = $370 + $50 = $420

    This assumes the extra $100 per year penalty fee added to your base registration fee at $85 pee year.
     
  19. Trollbait

    Trollbait It's a D&D thing

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    The Prius' decline is US sales started before the Model 3 even arrived. The overall hybrid segment had shrunk in relation to new car sales withe cheaper fuel, and there are more hybrid choices, including from Toyota.
     
  20. Rmay635703

    Rmay635703 Senior Member

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    I’m transferring the plate which is slightly less
    too bad I couldn’t get the plate at 20 years due to the model year language.

    Further $420 isn’t even 2.5 years of plates.


    Next I’m uncertain if they multiply the county fees or not.

    I also am expecting more fee increases as the law won’t fix road funding (it’s only effecting the 25,000 hybrids). The plate will insulate me from increases. (This is the 2nd set of increases in about 8 months)

    I will have the car at least 5 years
     
    #120 Rmay635703, Sep 3, 2019
    Last edited: Sep 3, 2019