Washington, USA: As motorists, due to the financial downturn and the economy per se, are driving less and buying less gasoline, fuel taxes are no longer raising enough money to keep pace with the cost of road, bridge and transit programs.
Congress therefore has created a federal commission to find a way to make up the growing revenue shortfall in the program that funds highway repairs and construction is talking about increasing federal gas and diesel taxes.
A roughly 50 percent increase in gasoline and diesel fuel taxes is being urged by the commission until the government devises another way for motorists to pay for using public roads.
The 15-member National Commission on Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing is the second group in a year to call for increasing the current 18.4 cents a gallon federal tax on gasoline and the 24.4 cents a gallon tax on diesel. State fuel taxes vary from state to state.
In a report expected in late January, members of the infrastructure financing commission say they will urge Congress to raise the gas tax by 10 cents a gallon and the diesel tax by about 12 cents to 15 cents a gallon. At the same time, the commission will recommend tying the fuel tax rates to inflation.
The commission will also recommend that states raise their fuel taxes and make greater use of toll roads and fees for rush-hour driving.
Although the cost of gasoline has dropped dramatically in recent months, such tax increases could be politically treacherous for Democratic leaders in Congress. A gas tax hike was one of the reasons they lost control of the House and Senate in the 1994 elections. President-elect Barack Obama has expressed concern about raising fuel taxes in the current economic climate.
But commission members said the government must find more road and bridge building money somewhere.
The dilemma for Congress is that highway and transit programs are dependent for revenue on fuel taxes that are not sustainable. Many Americans are driving less and switching to more fuel-efficient cars and trucks, and a shift to new fuels and technologies like plug-in hybrid electric cars will further erode gasoline sales.
According to a draft of the financing commission's recommendations, the nation needs to move to a new system that taxes motorists according to how much they use roads. While details have not been worked out, such a system would mean equipping every car and truck with a device that uses global positioning satellites and transponders to record how many miles the vehicle has been driven, and perhaps the type of roads and time of day.
So, first they want people to switch away from using the cars so much and that and now, when people do that the money for the treasury is getting short - and the hell they use it for fixing roads and bridges - they decide to simply put the tax up to get more money.
Let's face it. Unless the USA is different to the UK – where taxes on fuel are most of the cost of a gallon of gas or diesel here – then the money raised from fuel taxes is NOT being used to improve the road infrastructure, in the same way as the Road Tax that every motorist has to pay in Britain is not used for that either. All such taxes are but a means for the government to raise money for its coffers regardless from which source.
I have an answer there for drivers - drive even less, LOL. Also, where possible, travel Amish-style. But, no doubt, they will also find a way of getting taxes for that. They will probably have a horse doo charge or such then.
Isn't it sad that the poor government now is short of funds because people have heeded the call to use the motorcar and such less, drive more efficient vehicles and hybrids, and hence less gasoline and diesel is being sold.
If US roads are anywhere like those in Britain then they have not used much of the money raised by such taxes in the maintenance of them but now they claim they need that money to repair roads and bridges.
Methinks there is a squadron of pigs requesting permission to land...
© M Smith (Veshengro), January 2009
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Motorists' habits spur call for tax increases
