OLYMPIA, Wash. — A pay-by-mile program could soon be the way the state pays to maintain its roads.
“We’re already dealing with a situation where people are driving less,” says Rep. Jake Fey, (D) Tacoma.
That has some critics insisting this proposal, to eventually replace the gas tax, won’t work.
The state of Washington could soon join Oregon and three other states in charging drivers by the mile, essentially dumping the gas tax for locals.
Some critics contend the state could use the sales tax buyers already pay for new vehicles to make up for slumping gas tax revenue.
KIRO 7 heard from people who say they don’t believe that the government doesn’t have the money to maintain these roadways. So, no, they don’t want to change the current system at all.
If you drive, you pay. That’s essentially how the pay-by-mile bill would work.
“This is a way in which to have everybody pay on a common basis,” said Rep. Fey.
Fey chairs the House Transportation Committee. He says with so many EV and hybrid drivers on these highways, the state is losing money relying on the gas tax to the tune of about $ 100 million each year.
Fey says pay-by-mile would raise more money.
“And provide some equity among different drivers,” he said. “If you have a vehicle that is, doesn’t get good miles then you’re, you’re probably paying enough. If you’re, if you’ve got an efficient internal combustion engine, you’re probably paying a lot less than you should be.”
Supporters say the proposal is similar to Oregon’s nearly decade-old pay-by-mile program. Drivers who opt into pay-by-mile would no longer pay a gas tax. The extra registration fee imposed on EV and Hybrid drivers would go away, too.
This critic at the Washington Policy Center insists there’s the rub.
“If you’re just swapping one tax for another, it doesn’t solve the problem that the state has that it doesn’t have enough for repairing on the highways,” says Charles Prestrud, who monitors state transportation policy. “And that’s a big problem.”
Moreover, some drivers say they’d just as soon keep the gas tax, as is.
“I just want to stay with the gas tax,” said James Connerly, Lacey.
Even if it’s not enough money to keep the roads going? he was asked. Or does he believe them?
“I don’t necessarily believe them,” said Connerly, “because if they say I’ll pay less (with) the other method, how can that work?”
As for using the taxes drivers pay when they buy a new car to fix the roads, Rep. Fey says that money is already spoken for and that it goes into the general fund where it is sorely needed.
The legislature has tried to pass a replacement for the gas tax twice before. He is hoping this third time’s a charm.
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