Oregon looks at per-mile tax on gas sippers

[Steve97415]

Originally Posted by Larry Caldwell

Sidewalk construction and maintenance is the responsibility of the property owner with street frontage. That's why new sidewalk projects are so rare.

In smaller towns it often works that way, but that isn't really fair. Private infrastructure should be paid for by private monies and public infrastructure should be paid for by public monies. The driveway that serves your garage from the public street serves you, and you should pay for it. But the street that fronts your property line is not your sole responsibility as it serves the broad public interest. Likewise, the sidewalk that leads to your front door serves your private interests, but the public sidewalk that fronts the street is part of a public right of way. It is just as much a part of the public transportation system as the street.
A person with an interior lot may have just 60 ft. of sidewalk that they need to construct. Someone on a corner lot might have 300 ft. or more. If we saddle property owners with exactions for sidewalk construction, the burden of paying for public infrastructure is arbitrarily disproportionate based on site characteristics. Sidewalks should be funded collectively from system development fees.

[hamellr]

Portland and Beaverton both consider the side walk in front of your house your responsibility. In Portland's case, they were willing to come around in two months to repair the side walk that had been lifted up by tree roots, after I shelled out $400 to them to do so. Or I could fix it myself. A long weekend later, they OK'ed the repairs.

In Beaverton, I had to pay $90 to the City to have the sidewalk repaired after the new sewer was put in place. Thankfully I didn't have to pay out of pocket for the sewer, but the $90 was a surprise since I had just moved in and it was not mentioned by the previous owner.

[Steve Pickering]

Originally Posted by hamellr

... ... I find it funny that you're a motorcycle rider yourself, and have been subjected in the past to similar prejudice and other unsafe drivers. Yet you don't see the contradictions in passing it right down to the next level of transportation users. You fight by saying "not all motorcycle riders are unsafe like that, it's just a small majority, so don't think that I'm an unsafe rider." But then you go back and lump all Bicyclist riders under the same umbrella. You complain about drivers not being aware of you when you're on your hog and cutting you off. But you don't see the contradiction is the same drivers acting the same way towards a vehicle that is even lighter and smaller then yours.

If anything, as a motorcycle rider you should be even more cognizant of the problems bike riders face. As they're the exact same ones you have!

And I pay more than a car driver for my endorsement so that the car drivers can be educated about motorcycles. I am also required to take a course in MC riding even though I have been licensed for over 50 years as a motorcycle rider. Both cost several hundred dollars in addition to my vehicle license, and Drivers License. I don't fight it it, I pay it.

So let's do the same with bikes. Require a $150 safety course and a $90 licensing fee to pay for car driver education and include electric car drivers in the fee system.

We can make it one bill in the legislature. Thanks for the idea. I'll see you at the capital this session with a new piece of legislation.

[Beenhere4ever]

That's true a lot of places. Never heard the logic. I can't tell people not to walk on "my sidewalk". I can't even really decided when to fix "my sidewalk". But somehow it attaches to my property. I'll bet homeowners are the least likely to actually use "their sidewalk".

[Steve Pickering]

Originally Posted by Works4aLiving

"SALEM, Ore. (AP) -- Oregon state officials are proposing an alternative tax for drivers who have bought efficient or electric vehicles that seldom or never stop at the gasoline pump



Somebody has to pay for the average $10,500 raise welfare recipients got under Obama's "stimulus" bill

You're gonna have to show me where you got those numbers from.

[UrbanAdventurer]

States get you either coming or going in most cases. Oregon has cheap DMV registration fees and you don't even pay sales tax when you buy a new car. (Lot of money if you're talking a $40-50k car!)

In the trucking world, Oregon is kind of an oddball with the weight/mile tax. They charge you quarterly I believe based on how many miles you log on Oregon roadways and the GVRW of your truck. (Most other states just participate in the "Apportioned" IFTA program and get your money that way...) So levying a similar type of tax on passenger car drivers isn't totally without precedent. They gotta get the money to maintain the roads somehow, which many of us will agree are substandard in many areas.

Or they could start tolling certain roadways. Interstate and Glen Jackson bridges would be a good place to start.

[jimj]

Originally Posted by UrbanAdventurer

States get you either coming or going in most cases. Oregon has cheap DMV registration fees and you don't even pay sales tax when you buy a new car. (Lot of money if you're talking a $40-50k car!)

In the trucking world, Oregon is kind of an oddball with the weight/mile tax. They charge you quarterly I believe based on how many miles you log on Oregon roadways and the GVRW of your truck. (Most other states just participate in the "Apportioned" IFTA program and get your money that way...) So levying a similar type of tax on passenger car drivers isn't totally without precedent. They gotta get the money to maintain the roads somehow, which many of us will agree are substandard in many areas.

Or they could start tolling certain roadways. Interstate and Glen Jackson bridges would be a good place to start.

Good points though I don't believe they can put a toll on interstate roads as they don't own them. The thing people have to remember is every state is a hungry beast that WILL be fed one way or another. With that being said elected officials have this self preservation thing that forces them to follow the path of least resistance and so will go at the pockets of the meekest first, if that fails it's always the good old back door approach of placing a tax on a company that sells something.