Community Chat

[cherry]

Do you think its a good idea? The roads in my state are in terrible shape. We had a tax proposal that didn't pass. This could be a way out. OF course ,this will ultimately be passed to the the consumer. (goods being trucked)Plus you never know if the money will be spent as they claim it will be

[icezeus]

How is that even legal or fair?

I am in California and I have heard that we have some sort of pilot program in Northern California testing this same concept. So we are going to be charged twice?? We pay for taxes to maintain the roads every time we pump gas. The legislators as usual can't balance the check book and have to find a way to grab more money from their citizens.

OK, I am going to jump off my "gripe box".

[momtochloe]

Just curious, does Oregon have a tollway system?  I mean those poor folks would be paying twice to use the roads . . . that doesn't seem fair at all.

[Blahblahvampemer]

The gov promotes cars with higher mileage by whatever means, and then they complain about the stagnant revenues. Don't drink alcohol, and there's another tax hit. Dump the cigs, and there goes that revenue stream. Oh the irony.

[pitdakota]

I guess I have somewhat mixed feelings about it.  Major roadways obivously need to be maintained.  One of the things I think about is that on the interstate system, the most wear and tear to the road surface is due to the semi trucks.  If those companies that transport are taxed for the miles traveled, that is one way to pass on the burden of maintaining those particular roads since the trucks do the most damage.

It ultimately will get passed along to the consumer though when companies that are trucking those goods have to raise their prices.  However, it really isn't fair for all citizens in the area to necessarily bear the entire burden via their taxes either when those types of vehicles are responsible for the most wear of the road surface. 

[nun ya]

I wouldn't be happy. I live in Pa and already pay 51 cents per gallon tax for roadways.

[tansy]

No toll roads that I know of in Oregon, mtc.

[Nightowlz]

No it's not a good idea. We already pay taxes for our roads/highways. If they pass that bill the money would be spent on who knows what because they cannot keep their hands out of the cookie jar. Use our tax dollars what they are supposed to be used for. Just like our so called disappearing ss. Put the money back in the ss fund. It should not be used as a rainy day fund account. We are already taxed to death. Enough is Enough.

[sfnative]

We moved to Oregon from California nearly two years ago upon retiring to be near DD and SIL.  I don't think I've even experienced a city (Portland) with such bad, bad, bad, bad, streets and roadways.  Don't move here if you have a bad back like me: a 2 mile drive down the street is agony - I have to pull away from the back of the seat, so the jarring which travels up through the frame of the car doesn't cause my daily pain to become worse.  It's simply ridiculous.

The state appears to have suffered from a gross case of fiscal mismanagement for many years.  The powers that be made nearly no effort at all to retain Portland's last cargo port.  To have retained it and BUILT upon it for the future would have been the way to go.

Because Oregon charges no sales tax, it was a no-brainer that this was going to catch up with them sooner than later.  I'd much rather see a sales tax instituted rather than a pay-by-the-mile plan road tax, as it's a punitive tax for those who drive cars - those evil things here in Oregon.

[momtochloe]

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@tansy wrote:
No toll roads that I know of in Oregon, mtc.

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Thanks tansy, that would be a classic Illinois move . . . charge a per mile tax on top of the outrageous fees that charge for the tollway system (which goes to just about everything but the roads) . . . boo!