Fuel taxes

S

SeaRide

Active Member
Oct 3, 2006
1,174
Chapin, SC
Boat Info
1999 230BR
Engines
5.7 EFI/Alpha
Let me get this right..... First the government urges us to purchase fuel efficient cars with tax credits, conserve gas and etc. Other slogans include drill baby drill, T. Boone Pickens, wind power, hybrid vehicles and etc.

Well the reality is that people are driving less and some have bought more fuel efficient vehicles. We are doing the right thing right......... Sure we are... or are we. Well several articles have come out yesterday and today stating that we are consuming less fuel, so the gov't isn't getting their fair share since tax revenues have fallen. Therefore there is less money for road mtx, construction and so on. Not a problem for the gov. they'll just tax gasoline and diesel another ten to fifteen cents/gallon. Wow that makes perfect sense to me. Reward the consumer with a tax. So if we drive even less, the gov. will tax us more. Makes even more sense. ...and the gov't may even dictate what type of vehicles we'll be driving since GM and Chrysler have their hands out. If this is the case, should the gov't be giving tax credits to those who buy the least fuel efficient vehicles and encourage auto mfgs. to make more full size trucks and SUVs????

....and let's just say the gas tax is increased and then shortly thereafter, the economy improves and people drive more. The increased gas tax would no longer be needed. What do you think the chances of the tax being reduced are??

Well at least we may now have an energy policy = let's increase the fuel tax.
 
Re: Gas taxes

My New's Year resolution is to burn as much gas as I can afford through my engines over the next few years. The direction the country is heading will result in a significantly reduced boating population over time driven by taxes and stupid regulations. Look at Europe.

Does anyone really believe there will be more boaters in this country four years from now?

-John
 
Re: Gas taxes

Who is pushing for electric cars and how will they be taxed for road use? How about we figure it out so let's tax all electricity consumption. Don't smaller cars put less wear on the roads, I guess not.

Mr Salt
2001 540 CPMY
Caterpillar C-12s
Cape May, NJ
 
There are several ways to comment on this.

I guess I will start by stating that if you think they are running deficits now - - -

Wait till they realize what they will be taking in for capital gains relative to last year. Wait till they realize that reduced retail sales means less revenue through sales taxes.

I read an article today where California may be sending out IOU's instead of US currency for income tax returns. Thank goodness I don't live there.

I certainly went from "pay through the nose" to "massive refund" on my 2008 taxes.

- - - - - -

In terms of fuel taxes -> there could be a serious case to be made for a $3/ gallon gas tax to drive down fuel consumption. That would make people start to make real lifestyle decisions like living closer to work, prompt public demand for mass transit etc - - > and would start to help the *demand side* of the oil import issue.

Of course, that assumes there really is an oil import issue. I personally don't believe that oil prices go from $60 to $140 back to $37 in a year because of consumer demand.

On the state level, however, the loss of revenue due to reduced driving could be very real - And don't many states have balanced budget requirements? They could be between a rock and a hard place.
 
What? I don't know about the rest of the country, but in NJ and NY on my camping trip, I must have paid about $50 in tolls. Isn't that supposed to go towards maintaining the roads? I have a real hard time believing that fuel tax goes towards maintaining the roads. I bet a huge percentage goes towards welfare. I know the road tax on the fuel I buy for my boat doesn't go towards maintaining the waterways.
 
I saw this on the news tonight as well. Not only were the Feds trying to up the tax, but also on the TN state level as well.

Do not remember the specific figures, but it seemed that between the two it was a about a .20 per gallon proposed increase.

So the Nightly news shows you how to save on gas (when it was $4+), and then turns around and shows you you how the GOV is going to penalize you for using less gas by paying higher gas taxes. Sheesh.
 
comsnark said:
On the state level, however, the loss of revenue due to reduced driving could be very real - And don't many states have balanced budget requirements? They could be between a rock and a hard place.
Click to expand...

Tennessee is one of the many states whose constitution requires a balanced budget. We customarily have a state 'rainy day fund' to help balance out the lean years, and it works to some degree in this fashion. Also we customarily have not issued bonds to build and maintain roads; they are paid for from fuel taxes, which are somewhat higher than many surrounding states, and our share of Federal highway funds, which come from the Federal Highway Trust Fund (Federal fuel tax revenue). It is primarily the Federal government which has been quite loose with the use of Trust Fund money for non-highway uses. Even our state and local governments have used these Trust Fund monies to help pay for greenways.
 
TurtleTone said:
What? I don't know about the rest of the country, but in NJ and NY on my camping trip, I must have paid about $50 in tolls. Isn't that supposed to go towards maintaining the roads? I have a real hard time believing that fuel tax goes towards maintaining the roads. I bet a huge percentage goes towards welfare. I know the road tax on the fuel I buy for my boat doesn't go towards maintaining the waterways.
Click to expand...

Mike,

Thanks for doing your part in paying the tolls. The article also urged various governmental agencies to encourage motorists to use toll roads where available. Based on our "reward" for saving gas, I suppose this means tolls will be going up as a means for encouraging us to use toll roads.
 
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Ok... I'm ready to sign up for that revolution now. Where's the line?

For cryin' out loud. I suspected that all of our government officials were greedy. malicious. idiots. Now I'm CERTAIN.

Michael
 
Id rather pay a toll for roads that are maintained. Michigan roads are HORRIBLE! I think my trucks falling apart until i hit the Ohio or Indiana state line then it feels like im in a Cadillac.

Id gladly pay more taxes if the money ACTUALLY went to maintaining the roads.
 
At least one state, Oregon I think has outfitted 300 cars with GPS tracking systems to see if they can figure out how to tax per mile driven!!!! A $.01/mile x 50,000 miles = $5K road tax....
 
Beer Thirty said:
Id rather pay a toll for roads that are maintained. Michigan roads are HORRIBLE! I think my trucks falling apart until i hit the Ohio or Indiana state line then it feels like im in a Cadillac.

Id gladly pay more taxes if the money ACTUALLY went to maintaining the roads.
Click to expand...

Let me guess, CHEVY??:grin:
 
r_moss said:
At least one state, Oregon I think has outfitted 300 cars with GPS tracking systems to see if they can figure out how to tax per mile driven!!!! A $.01/mile x 50,000 miles = $5K road tax....
Click to expand...

Move the decimal one place to the right.

With GPS technology being built into everything, I would not be surprised to see it come to this. Though rural state legislators will object, as their constituents have large farms/ranches to drive across, and should not be taxed as if they are on public roads.
 
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