Oregon is looking for a new funding source to pay for its road as high gas mileage vehicles increase.
That’s because as drivers buy less and less gas, taxes assessed on that gas — which now provide approximately 60 percent of funding for state, county and city road projects — will continue to dry up. Transportation officials believe the most obvious and equitable option to replace those dollars is a road user fee, assessed on owners of high-mileage vehicles based on the number of miles that they drive.
The concept of such a fee has been kicked around in the state Legislature for more than a decade without getting anywhere, however, due to both fiscal and practical issues. No other states have taken the leap, either.
Read more at The Register-Guard.
