San Diego roads and highways. (Photo: SANDAG.org)
California’s Latest Tax Idea: Charge Drivers by the Mile
State politicians are more focused on changing the earth’s temperature, rectifying the scourge of slavery, and building housing for all
By James Breslo, June 12, 2024 12:30 pm
California has the highest income tax rate in the country (top tier of 14.4 percent), the highest statewide sales tax rate (7.25 percent, plus local sales taxes), and the highest gas tax rate ($0.78 per gallon). Yet it ranks third to last in the country in terms of road quality.
The old joke is that California would tax the air we breathe if it could. Well, California’s latest tax proposal comes close. The state is recruiting drivers for a pilot program to track and tax the miles they drive.
The plan is borne from the fact that Californians have switched to electric and hybrid vehicles at a faster rate than other states, spurred on by large state, as well as federal, subsidies. As a result, gas consumption has declined, in turn reducing the state’s gas tax receipts. One might think this could be rectified by simply shifting money from the general fund to make up for it. However, the state faces up to a $55 billion deficit this year, causing it to consider a host of additional taxes, including a wealth tax.
California has long relied on the gas tax to take care of its roads. It was a good idea at first. The gas tax was initially used in lieu of toll roads, which made a lot of sense. Pricing the cost of road maintenance into the price of gas was a good way of taxing people based on usage. Toll roads do the same, but they are cumbersome, requiring toll booths, workers, cash, and long lines. However, California ultimately succumbed to the need for more money and added some toll roads in addition to the gas tax.
But because of the state’s green initiative, it has convinced Californians to switch to hybrid or electric vehicles from gas. While electric vehicles are more expensive, Californians were enticed to buy them because of the subsidies and savings they would enjoy by no longer having to buy gas. But like most government programs, this was not well thought out. California has lost millions in tax revenue because of this scheme and now needs to make up for that. From the many options available to it, it has chosen a plan to begin tracking drivers with GPS monitors.
Buyers of electric cars may not have been aware of the new tax-by-the-mile plan before they decided to purchase their vehicles. Had they known about the potential added cost, they may have made a different decision. But regardless, California law mandates that all new car sales be electric by 2035.
Under the new plan, according to Caltrans, mileage could be tracked by plugging an electronic device into a vehicle or using the vehicle’s tracking system. There was a time when many Californians were civil libertarians and would have vehemently opposed such a government intrusion into their personal lives. But many today put their undying trust in the government, believing it to be infallible and capable of curing all societal ills.
We saw during the pandemic how most Californians had no problem trusting the government to interfere in virtually all elements of private life, mandating when we could leave our homes, who we could invite into our homes, and that we inject an unproven vaccine. Allowing the government to track our every move is right in line with such mandates.
There’s no telling what the government may use this new information for. The main page of the Caltrans website for the program, entitled “California Road Charge,” presents the tagline “Funding transportation in an equitable way.” There’s that word again. Government-imposed “equity” can take any number of forms. On the next page, it states that the charge is “Fair. Transparent. Sustainable.”
We already know California is trying to increase the cost of fossil fuels to drive people to electric cars and green energy such as wind and solar. The state has even sued the oil companies for causing climate change, in order to make it “more expensive to be dirty than clean,” according to state Attorney General Rob Bonta. By charging an exorbitant fee per mile, it could effectively reduce the number of cars on the road to reduce climate change. It could also easily charge varying fees based on driver income to impose “equity.”
It could also charge varying fees based on miles driven, penalizing those who the government determines drive too much. It could also add a tax for homeless housing, as Los Angeles recently did on all retail sales.
One thing we know is the tax is unlikely to actually improve the roads. California has ranked toward the bottom of all states in road quality for a long time, pre-dating the impact of electric cars. In 2016, Reason Foundation’s Annual Highway Report listed California as 43rd among states in road quality. It has since gotten worse, dropping in 2019 to 45th and in 2020 to 47th. Perhaps these drops are starting to reflect the effects of the reduced gas tax revenue, but 43rd wasn’t a good starting point, especially for a state with great weather that doesn’t have to deal with the effects of snow, ice, and salt.
The truth is that California has greater priorities than roads. Road upkeep is a basic, old-school obligation of government. It’s not sexy. State politicians are more focused on changing the earth’s temperature, rectifying the scourge of slavery, and building housing for all. In California, basic needs such as roads, schools, and safety take a back seat.
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And herein lies the MAIN problem…
“The truth is that California has greater priorities than roads. Road upkeep is a basic, old-school obligation of government. It’s not sexy. State politicians are more focused on changing the earth’s temperature, rectifying the scourge of slavery, and building housing for all. In California, basic needs such as roads, schools, and safety take a back seat.”
California needs MUCH more “basic, old-school obligation” and MUCH LESS “sexy”…
Climate change is NOT a controllable “thing” as the recent volcanic eruptions have released more particulate matter and gases than California transportation sources, let ALONE the smoke & particulate matter releases from California’s forest & brush fires that erupt from lack of system infrastructure maintenance enforcement…
Bottom line : California governance is an ABJECT FAILURE and a COMPLETE DUMPSTER FIRE….
This, or a wealth tax, in combination with the HORRENDOUS property insurance market will likely be the final straw that will drive us out of state…
Another downstream consequence of allowing them to enact this policy and monitor everyone’s mileage electronically, is that it will allow the government to facilitate rationing travel and gas consumption in the future.
The end result – another globalist goal attained in top down control of the population.
Another downstream consequence of allowing them to enact this policy and monitor everyone’s mileage electronically, is that it will allow the government to facilitate rationing travel and gas consumption in the future.
The end result – another globalist goal attained in top down control of the population.
My favorite part of this proposal is that if it is an acted, it will allow all our monitored vehicles to be tracked, and in the future travel and gas consumption can be rationed or controlled by the state. A globalist dream come true.
Hard no on this plan and any politicians who support it. This level of control is unacceptable and un-American.
Ah yes, charge by the mile plus the excessive gas tax. And here goes privacy with the tracking, This proposal should be stuffed in a chuckhole that has not been repaired.
Not sure if anyone knows this or not but in addition to all of the city and state taxes included in your annual vehicle registration, you are already paying a Transportation Improvement Fee (TIF) for gas powered vehicles, based on the value of your vehicle or a $118.00 Road Improvement Fee (RIF) for electric vehicles. Both are supposed to pay for road improvements. On top of which they have a gas tax and now they want to implement mileage taxes of $0.30 per mile. I only drive to work 3 days a week but I won’t be able to afford to continue driving to work as that’s going to be an extra $306.00 that I don’t have.
How about all the private roads in California? Will we be taxed for driving on those? I drive thousands of miles each year on private roads. Why should I pay for those when the state does not maintain them?
Just like the Kommiecrats in the Colorado Politburo!
Will this be a tax deductible item for business vehicles ?
For those of you living in Red states, be watchful of who’s moving in and participate in local government affairs. Otherwise, you will become another blue state with high crime, lawlessness, homeless, indoctrinated schools, and very woke/corrupt politicians .
Having lived in California for over 60 years, I can attest to the deterioration😐
I actively opposed the US’s war against Vietnam and SE Asia. Nothing outrageous, mainly organizing demonstrations and publicizing the hidden truths of US foreign policy. My phone was tapped, undercover police befriended me, I was arrested on phony charges, and so on. Just the ordinary costs of opposing governments.
Now, decades later, when I describe my experiences from that time to younger friends, they’re incredulous. “Isn’t that illegal? How could they get away with that?” I tell them every time I drive my newish car, I sense Big Brother recording my behavior. Every time I see a camera leering at me at a stop light, I sense Big Brother recording my behavior. I tell them Been There, Done That.
Liberals and the woke may have good intentions, sometimes I agree with them, but they’re using authoritarian means to do it. They’re laying the groundwork for universal oppression without realizing it. Left or right, in some ways there’s no substantial difference. Maybe it’s just what humans do.
You missed it James. They do tax the air we breathe. They call it The Clean Air Act. Then double down on it with carbon tax. And who really knows where that slush fund goes? It’s an enormous amount of money.