For decades, we’ve been told to curtail carbon emissions to protect the environment.
The Bible calls for us to be good stewards of the environment, and it’s smart to do what we can to recycle, reuse, and curb pollution.
To that end, like many others, I’ve tried to purchase fuel-efficient cars to cut down on the amount of gas I buy although, quite honestly, the price tag of a Tesla at more than $36,000 is beyond our family budget. We drive Toyota Corollas that get 36 miles per gallon.
And, with Washington state’s gas tax the third highest in the nation at 49.5 cents a gallon, we save money by driving a fuel-efficient car.
But apparently that fuel-efficiency has backfired on the state because gas tax revenue has dropped.
So now, the Washington State Transportation Commission will determine before year’s end whether to “replace” the gas tax with a system of charging people a tax on each mile driven to provide a long-term sustainable funding source.
If we trusted politicians to keep their word — to eliminate the gas tax and replace it with the per-mile tax — it might be more acceptable. But there’s no guarantee we wouldn’t end up paying both gas and per-mile taxes — and perhaps more of each.
Under the proposal, the state would phase in the per-mile tax over 10 to 25 years, according to a Tacoma News Tribune article by James Drew. The gas tax would remain in effect during that period, but owners of passenger cars and trucks would pay one tax or the other, but not both. The proposal would exempt commercial vehicles and trucks, although it seems those larger, heavier rigs create more wear and tear on the highways than lightweight passenger cars. But they’ll probably end up paying even higher taxes too.
The timeline calls for the commission to receive a report on the new tax in October and vote Dec. 17 on what it will recommend lawmakers do after the Legislature convenes Jan. 13, 2020.
Commission Chairman Jerry Litt, who participated in a pilot project to gauge feelings about replacing gas taxes with per-mile charges, said it’s likely many residents would pay more under the per-mile tax or so-called “road usage charge.” Those driving fuel-efficient vehicles will likely pay quite a bit more under the per-mile proposal than people in gas guzzlers who may see a savings.
So it would punish the people who do their best to curb environmental pollution. That makes a lot of sense, especially in Gov. Jay Inslee’s state, given that he’s campaigning for U.S. president on the issue of climate change.
The per-mile tax strikes me as most detrimental to those living in rural communities, such as Lewis County and in Eastern Washington counties, where people often commute miles to work. It also seems to hurt people with lower incomes who found more affordable places to live away from city centers.
However, the Legislature could set a tiered tax with a lower rate for people in rural areas, who drive at higher speeds with more fuel efficiency, and a higher rate in urban areas, where cars chug along in stop-and-go traffic with motors idling and creating smog in the air. It also could place a higher per-mile rate on tax gas guzzlers. But poorer people may own those vehicles because they can’t afford newer, more fuel-efficient cars. Will bicyclists also be taxed per-mile? They’re using the roads too.
And then there’s the issue of privacy.
How will the state determine how many miles motorists drive? Will we be required to install a tracking device in our cars so Big Brother can see where and when we drive? Or take photos of our odometers and send them in with a tax?
Yikes!
It’s creepy when I shop for products on the internet and suddenly advertisements for those or similar items pop up on my Facebook news feed.
Who’s watching us — even in the privacy of our homes?
And next in our cars? Good gracious!
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Julie McDonald, a personal historian from Toledo, may be reached at memoirs@chaptersoflife.com.
