Date:         Fri, 3 Jan 2003 12:57:16 -0800
Reply-To:     H R <harald_nancy_vw@YAHOO.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         H R <harald_nancy_vw@YAHOO.COM>
Subject:      Re: Alert for Oregonians-new tax for miles driven?
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

I wouldn't sleep so well, knowing that proposals like that are floating
around state legislature.
The bottom line is that many states including California and Oregon
are facing tremendous budget deficits of unprecedented proportions,
as you are surely well aware of.
In many states, increase of gax tax was voted down.
So in the guise of "fairness", something like this could be
 forced on vehicle drivers.
The state governments are desparate to raise money, and not only for
road repairs.
If a program would be instituted where one is being charged for each mile
driven, it would be a tremendous tax resource for the states.
So I'm sure they are serious, and try to see what they can get away with.
The east coast has had toll roads for a long time.
Now modern technology makes it possible to charge you for every road
you drive without having to build expensive toll stations.
If something like this in Oregon passes, soon other states will follow.
When you come back with your westy from a cross-country trip
a few years into the future, you might be greeted with a $1,000 road use bill
in the mail.
It would inhibit one's freedom of movement, unless you can pay.
Harald
'90 westy

Debra wrote:
I don't live in Oregon but if I did I still wouldn't be too concerned.
Anybody who follows any of the state legislatures knows what kind of idiocy
gets bantered around.  I think drivers in Oregon will be able to sleep
soundly tonight.
Debra Clark

----- Original Message -----
From: "H R" <harald_nancy_vw@YAHOO.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Friday, January 03, 2003 9:17 AM
Subject: Alert for Oregonians-new tax for miles driven?
> Alert for Oregonians:
> Soon you may be charged for each mile driven, if the new
> vmt, or vehicle miles travelled fee, will be introduced.
> The proposal is to either
> 1)  install a GPS (global positioning system) device in each vehicle
> to track each mile driven on Oregon roads, and then send you a monthly
bill.
> or
> 2) install an odometer sensor in each car which calculates the mileage
> and transfers data by radio, then charges you extra for each mile at the
gas station.
> According to Oregon state government, the problem is that there are too
> many fuel efficient cars, and they don't use enough gas to pay their
> share for road repairs through gas tax.
> Jim Whitty, administrator of Oregon's Road User Fee Task Force,
> said in an interview,
> "If everybody had high mileage cars, our road system would fall apart
> from lack of revenue".
> Sounds like a Friday joke, but it's not.
> Here's the link:
>
http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewPolitics.asp?Page=\Politics\archive\200301\POL200
30102a.html
> Harald
> '90 westy




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