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Taxing mileage would hit hunters and anglers
Submitted by Zimo on Thu, 10/09/2008 - 7:02am.
Gov. Butch Otter's idea of charging a mileage tax to raise money to repair state roads will be a big hit to hunters, anglers and other recreationists.
If you're an angler who likes to go to the Lochsa River or the South Fork of the Snake River from Treasure Valley, you would take a hit and pay an extra tax for that trip. We're talking 600 to 700 miles round trip after you do your running around up and down the river on U.S. 12.
If you're a hunter who likes to travel across state to go elk hunting, you'll pay extra.
A family may rethink taking a camping trip to Ponderosa State Park in McCall or up to Priest Lake in north Idaho. Maybe skiers and snowboarders will cut back on the number of trips from Treasure Valley to Brundage, Tamarack and Sun Valley resorts.
It's a round trip of 300 miles to Riggins to go steelhead fishing, plus the mileage you add up traveling locally. You may rethink how many steelhead or salmon fishing trips you take to Riggins. If anglers cut back, that means less money for fishing shops, restaurants and motels in Riggins. Idaho's recreation towns will lose out on tourist dollars from in-staters.
The governor's idea is to replace or supplement the gasoline tax, with a tax on the drivers for the number of miles they drive each year. The state might record odometer readings when people renew their registrations and then assess a per-mile tax.
Right now the state has a flat fuel tax of 25 cents per gallon. As more people have conserved on gasoline with the use of gasoline by buying more fuel-efficient and hybrid cars, less money is coming in from fuel taxes. That means less money to fix highways.
A mileage tax will punish drivers who took the extra step to cut back on the use of fossil fuels with fuel-efficient cars, and also hunters, anglers and families who travel the state for recreation.
Hopefully the Idaho legislature will shoot down this idea.
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What????
I don't think that you have thought through your logic yet.
First, people pay taxes on the fuel that they purchase. If they drive more, then they pay more in taxes. Certainly, hybrid vehicles consume less fuel per mile driven than a nonhybrid so they pay a lesser "share" of fuel taxes.
"A mileage tax will punish drivers who took the extra step to cut back on the use of fossil fuels with fuel-efficient cars, and also hunters, anglers and families who travel the state for recreation"
I do not know of one hunter who uses a hybrid vehicle for hunting. I am sure that they are out there somewhere, but they are likely few, and far between.
With that being said, a hunter traveling 300 miles is either going to pay taxes on the fuel to get them to their destination or they will pay the taxes on the odometer reading for that 300 miles. It is all the same!
I don't see how this is going to hurt the hunter or the travelor? In the end they are still paying the same in taxes.
Double tax
By Zimo
I think the hunter who travels across state is going to get slammed with the mileage tax, plus the gasoline tax that he or she is also paying.
Basically, recreationists are going to get double taxed traveling around the state.
Hunters don't use hybrids. They usually have gas-guzzlers and they need them for four-wheel-drive and also for pulling boats and trailers. They are really going to get slammed with a mileage tax, plus the gasoline tax.
Maybe I'm seeing the proposal wrong but I see the mileage tax as an addition to the gasoline tax.
I agree Zimo
I think you have it right and are spot on about this being a double taxation. This WILL hurt the small towns and will limit the amount of in-state travel Idahoans do even more that it does right now.
No.
It's not a double tax.
Local Game
Of course he would get slammed.
Aren't you the one profusing the benefits of local game?
PS there is a hybrid Chevy/GMC pickup.- 19mpg. Do us all some good and go buy one of those. With all the intrastate driving you do, you'll help keep our air clean. AND you can write a useful review of such a 4WD critter for the rest of us to consider. AND you will help an AMERICAN auto maker.
Zimo does drive an American made truck
And will be doing the environment a favor by not trading it in on a hybrid until it has been used to the end of it's useful life. Stop being such a knee jerk, no thought, shooting your mouth off lib.
Truth is hard to come by
Zimo's rig.
nah, I don't think so.
I think he has a red Toyota. Usually has a slide in shell. Often tows a utility trailer for his canoe. I see it all the time in East Boise and there's something on it that makes it obvious. In fact, I think it is cus he occasionally catches it in a photo for his column. He always writes about his camper, etc.
And I think it was him I saw him riding a dirtbike (blue digital camo) the other day.
Toyota trucks areAmerican built
And are designed better than American designed trucks.
Truth is hard to come by
Name plate
...and the 9/11 terrorists learned how to fly in America.
Does that make them American pilots?
Better trucks
When American car companies can compete, I will buy their products.
Truth is hard to come by
GMC and Chevy trucks are built in the Pontiac plant...
In CANADA.
Use a Map
Try again FO.
Pontiac is in Michigan.
GMC and Chevy hybrid trucks ARE made in Oshawa Canada.
And the profits of the manufacturing come back to the US company.
And GMC and Chevrolet ARE American companies no matter where the vehicle is built.
Pontiac is a city in Michigan, Pontiac a car line merged w/GMC
Please study harder. GM combined the two divisions a short few years ago to save on production costs.
They HAD TO.
PS The Pontiac Vibe is a version of the Toyota Matrix. Not surprising as GM and Toyota have nearly 20 years of experience as partners.
Zimo and Frosting
Sorry Zimo but you can't have everything.
You want all federal lands with premium services.
You want access to every acres but don't want access fees.
You want ramps on your rivers but don't want user permits.
You want to travel across the state in your Japanese Toyota and are now are saying you don't want to directly pay for the road maintenance.
Basicly, you want to use it all constantly and have the cost spread over everyone else who hardly uses the resource.
You, individually are probably one of the biggest users of the outdoors and you ought to be paying the most. The rest of us working stiffs are lucky to get out once a month while your job sends you out once a week and more.
Stop complaining and stop writing crazy stuff.
How's the Salmon Chinook run?
People would just start shooting PEOPLE. Go on...
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If this had been an actual troll post the attention seeking you just read would've been followed by screaming, name-calling and cutting and pasting for no apparent reason. We now return you to the Idaho Statesman already in progress.
Double Taxes
The way I read the proposal, it does sound like a mileage tax on top of the fuel tax. To have the DMV verify odometer readings, they would have to add employees. Also no more mailing in registration, everyone would have to drive to a DMV office. I think this idea is pretty stupid. Its nearly 70 mile drive to the local DMV from here and I probably average 50 miles a year on my rig!
What about residents that drive in other states. Otter would collect taxes when you go visit Aunt Mable in Ohio.
The only ones that should pay a mileage tax are the electric and fry oil drivers, as they are skipping out on the 25 cent fuel tax. (They use the roads and should help pay for them.)
I don't like the idea of raising the registration - a flat tax, as that punishes the folks that don't drive much. I think we pay enough for the privilege of owning a vehicle.
Raise the tax on gas - that way people who drive more pay more, and we get money from tourists that use our roads.