

Raise the Gas Tax - mashmac2
http://www.slate.com/articles/business/moneybox/2013/12/blumenauer_gasoline_tax_hike_oregon_congressman_wants_higher_fuel_taxes.html

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patrickg_zill
The entire idea behind fuel taxes (and why these taxes are not levied on off-
road use such as farm fuel, like for a tractor or to run a threshing machine),
was that fuel taxes are to pay for the roads and other infrastructure.

Typically for these kinds of articles, nowhere is the actual cost of
maintaining the road system actually mentioned.

The reason is, that in many cases, the fuel taxes collected are far, far in
excess of the money actually spent in maintaining the road and building new
roads.

And most politicians love the slush-fund aspect of all the money that flows
in, and the horse-trading that goes into determining how it is spent.

Also not mentioned and not included in the calculations: the thousands of
dollars taken in on sales taxes, license fees, plate fees, etc. over the (let
us say 15 year) lifetime of your average car.

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fancyketchup
> The reason is, that in many cases, the fuel taxes collected are far, far in
> excess of the money actually spent in maintaining the road and building new
> roads.

Actually, you have this backwards[1]. The cost of maintaining roads exceeds
the revenues generated by gas taxes.

In fact, the only transportation 'use tax' account that consistently runs a
surplus is the federal Airport Improvement Trust Fund.

[1] First hit on the Google: [http://www.governing.com/topics/transportation-
infrastructur...](http://www.governing.com/topics/transportation-
infrastructure/Do-Roads-Pay-Themselves.html)

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melling
Are there other sources that discuss the cost of roads and bridges? One of the
main arguments people use against high-speed rail in the US, for instance, is
that it's not profitable, except in the North East between Washington and
Boston.

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malandrew
I'd love to see a gas tax that is progressive based on population density
within 10-20 miles of the gas station. They greater the population density,
the higher the tax. Rural gas stations pay the least tax per gallon and city
gas stations pay extremely high tax per gallon.

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pouetpouet
This really is a bad idea. This subsidies sprawl and fuel consuming
lifestyles. Gas taxes pay for a part of the externalities of fuel burning
which rural folks do a lot more than urban dwellers.

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sokoloff
I wish I could figure a way to make the following suggestion not so painful on
the working poor, but if the social cost of burning a gallon of gas is $2.10,
why not hike the gas tax to something north of that AND index it for inflation
automatically?

I realize that I have a certain privilege to live 15 minutes from work, and
that those who drive long distances to work would be hurt by such a policy, if
you take today as a frame of reference. But, perhaps they should be hurt by
it, if indeed they're costing society that excess amount.

Phasing it in linearly over an 8 year period starting 2 years from now would
blunt some of the transitional sting, perhaps.

