We’ve warned about the VMT (vehicle miles traveled) tax before, and there are people considering it. Link to I-95 Corridor Coalition added.
NH shouldn’t tax our odometers
By Rep. RICK LADD
NEW HAMPSHIRE’S STATE GAS TAX is currently set at 22.2 cents per gallon. This price is slightly less than the 24 cents per gallon paid in Massachusetts and much less than the 30 cents per gallon paid in Maine. With the exception of the 4.2 cents per gallon increase in 2014, New Hampshire’s tax on gasoline has remained relatively flat over the years.
The Department of Transportation, along with a number of departments and agencies, rely upon this source of revenue in order to support daily operations; however, with the increasing numbers of fuel efficient and electric vehicles, the department’s operating revenue has decreased.
Some vehicles are simply traveling farther on the same amount of gas; therefore, less gas is being used. This is a win for the consumer and environment, but decreasing revenue is counter-productive to highway and bridge maintenance.
In an effort to remedy the revenue issue, there appears to be an effort by several states to pursue a study of a mileage-based tax. Rather than being taxed for gas used, drivers would be taxed on miles driven. The mileage-based tax concept presents a whole host of bothersome issues such as financial hardship to those dependent upon high volume highway use and for all, privacy issues regarding how the government would collect and track data.
Accordingly, it is somewhat shocking to learn that a federal grant application was submitted by the Delaware DOT on behalf of the I-95 Corridor Coalition, a consortium of 16 states. It proposes pilot programs in five states — Connecticut, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire and another yet to be determined — designed to learn more about mileage-based user fees, and to evaluate implementation alternatives.
The total cost of the grant program is $2.98 million, of which $1.49 million comes from the federal government, with the remainder coming from individual states with matching funds. Connecticut has committed $300,000, Delaware and Pennsylvania would each pay $290,000 in cash, and Vermont would contribute $30,000 for planning and analysis. Instead of cash, the pilot program application reflects New Hampshire’s match share in the amount of $580,000 in toll credits.
Can New Hampshire afford to redirect more than a half-million dollars of toll credits needed for road maintenance and red-listed bridges in order to support a fee-per-mile taxation study?
The state budget-making process is built upon prioritizing needs and doing so through an open, transparent process involving public input. Redirecting toll revenue midstream during a budget cycle is contrary to that process and invites needed legislative oversight.
Mileage-based taxation generates a number of serious issues, of which protection of personal information and data is foremost. How is Big Brother going to obtain data identifying miles driven, and will this information remain protected and confidential?
If a scheme such as this does move forward, how will the state ascertain taxable miles driven in New Hampshire versus miles driven in another state or country? If mileage-based taxation becomes reality, how will North Country residents be impacted where traveling longer distances is required for work or other daily needs?
And, if a fee-per-mile study becomes reality in New Hampshire, how would this taxation scheme apply to vacationers from out-of-state?
Learning about the I-95 Coalition fee-per-mile study application and of New Hampshire’s decision to pilot the program with $580,000 from state toll credits is unsettling to this member of the Legislature.
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Rep. Rick Ladd, R-Haverhill, is in his fourth term in the New Hampshire House.