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[Editor’s Note: Meet our new contributor from North Orange County, Sean Cocca! Remember, if you’d like to become one as well, just write Vern or Greg!]
In 2014, California legislators passed a bill that was signed into law by Jerry Brown which will inevitably end up charging Californian drivers a fee based on the miles they drive, as opposed to the traditional fuel tax to which we are all accustomed. The California Department of Transportation is now asking for 5,000 volunteers to help them test a pilot program to examine how a feasible it would be to actually replace the current gasoline tax with this road usage tax.
I don’t normally ask people to support causes. I’m not the type of person who goes out and campaigns for things. It’s just not my style. This time, however, I feel compelled to act. Don’t let the Department of Transportation do this. Don’t let the California legislature screw us over any more than they already do. Don’t volunteer for this. Don’t let anyone you know volunteer for this. Don’t give the government any more rope with which to hang us. This is so asinine I can’t believe it’s even being considered.
Oh wait. It’s California. Of course it’s being considered. We have some of the most idiotic legislators in the country, constantly looking for more tax revenue to fund their pet projects. There’s not enough revenue from the gas tax? Well, that’s partially because the fuel tax hasn’t been raised since the 90s. Its also because a lot more of us drive more fuel efficient cars. And why wouldn’t we? California has some of the highest gas prices in the entire country. Even now as the price of oil falls like a rock, most of California gas stations are still charging somewhere in the neighborhood of $2.50 per gallon for regular unleaded while the rest of the nation’s gas stations are struggling to keep the price above $1.00 per gallon for the same fuel grade.
Ok, that last line might have been a bit of an exaggeration. But not by much.
California has the fifth highest state gas tax in the nation – a full 10 cents above the national average – and our gas prices reflect that. Is it any wonder why many Californians have turned to high fuel efficiency vehicles – hybrids and electric cars – to offset the astronomical cost of fuel? But now it seems we are to be punished for that. We, the downtrodden citizenry of the Golden State, are to be put to the sword for attempting to survive the taxation maelstrom that is California.
“Advocates of the approach say pricing can be adjusted based on time of day, whether the miles were city or rural – even the type of vehicle, which suggests how much it damages roads.”
So, essentially, all roads become toll roads. Am I reading that correctly? And how will the tax man track how many miles and at what time each of us drive every year? Will we all be made to purchase some kind of transponder? Will our cars be fitted with some kind of black box that will transmit mileage information to some central database? No possible scenario is positive. We either self-report (at which point I would encourage everyone to vastly underestimate how many miles they drive on a daily basis) or the government mandates the installation of some kind of tracking device and software in each and every vehicle driven in California.
Then there’s the issue of transportation based companies in California. Package delivery companies like UPS and FedEx, trucking companies, delivery services, small and large businesses businesses alike will be affected by this. At least they should be, right? Fair is fair. Why would private citizens pay for their mileage and not companies that use the same road? The answer is they wouldn’t. Or they shouldn’t. In any event, all this would do is make California less attractive to businesses. I certainly wouldn’t want the government putting some regulatory device on every vehicle in my fleet.
This is just another in a long line of leadership failures from our illustrious legislators. They are some of the most short-sighted buffoons in all of politics. It is a fundamental failure in planning, and they’re making us pay for it.
And really, who will this new tax affect the most? Certainly not the wealthy. No, they won’t feel the pinch. It will be the middle and working classes that feel this. It will be the ones who are forced to live in areas far from their jobs because our housing prices are so astronomical. It’ll be the guy who lives in Santa Ana who drives to 30 miles to work to support his wife and 3 kids. It’ll be the young couple who just bought their very first house in Garden Grove and commute to Diamond Bar for work. It’ll be our friends and family that are just trying to get by in a state that seems intent on putting roadblocks up at every turn.
Don’t help them do it. Do not. Californians find ways to lower their tax burden and the legislature just turns around and changes the rules to raise it back up. And forgive me if I don’t have a lot of faith in our legislative leaders actually revoking the current gas tax in favor of this road use tax. I think it’s far more likely that they would do some combination of both to maximize the tax revenue from motorists they could then siphon off into the general fund. And really, if the current gas tax isn’t enough to cover the cost of repairing the roads, don’t you think that the paltry sum of five cents a mile won’t be enough either? I can’t imagine it staying there for very long.
There is a solution to this problem, but it’s not this. Stand up to the state government for once.
*The truth of the matter is simple: When autos are Solar Powered Turbine Vehicles…which require NO GASOLINE……the game will have changed and
then the miles per gallon tax will be obsolete. Somehow, the Government will
need funding to fix the roads, bridges and over passes. Taxing people for the
number of miles driven will be required, but it will start will New Car Sales.
Once they add the electronic device that measures miles driven…..the game is
over. That information will be uploaded on a real time basis to a Cloud Server
so that there can be no foolin with the system.
I, for one, certainly don’t want the government to have that much insight into my life and my comings and goings. They already collect too much information as it is.
Atta boy, Sean. Welcome aboard.
Nice piece, newcomer. It’s hard to identify your political persuasion. I think conservatives and liberals alike are on board with you here. One thing is for sure. They’ll never let the people decide at the voting polls whether to accept or reject these mileage based fees. It would get rejected 75%-25%. Another thing is for sure too. If it gets approved in Sacramento it will significantly increase the car tax revenue – otherwise they wouldn’t waste their time on it. Let’s all agree that this new method to calculate how much you pay to use your car is not intended to benefit the average schlub – it’s intended to benefit the government. That should be understood. And few people would know how badly they’re getting screwed since it would take a rare bird to sit down with a calculator and figure out how much he or she pays in gas taxes each year – unless it’s done for tax reporting purposes. And what about for those California motorists who do lots of interstate driving? Obviously the State can’t tax them for the time they spend on the roads in Nevada or Oregon. Or can they? And like you said, the average working stiff who could only afford to buy a place in San Bernadino who commutes to OC or LA for work is really going to get gouged. It will be interesting to see whether the political elite in Sacramento can pull this off. My guess is that they’ll start off light to gain the people’s acceptance and then gradually rachet up the tax per mile. Sort of like they did with ObamaCare on premiums and deductibles. Once they got you in the pot of water it’s easy to gradually turn up the heat. Ask Mr. Frog.
More distressing “good news” on the automotive front, found this at Yahoo. Just IMAGINE the results when that new additive “TPP” gets dumped into the tank.
http://qz.com/594984/the-secret-history-of-gms-chinese-bailout/?utm_source=YPL
*The actuality is simple. All European Cars get 60 MPG….while the export vehicles here of the same make and model get 32 MPG. Something wrong with this picture…maybe! Big Oil wants everyone in their 10,000 lb tanks, Escalades, Tundras, Navigators and anything that can get 15 MPG or less in City Traffic. When the TAP is passed……it will guarantee that the US will get the European Models……but the demand for fuel will rapidly fall. Hey, just open the borders and bring in those 1960 Mexican Ford and Chevy Pick up trucks that get 18MPG….eh?
I think EV drivers already get enough public subsidy. If you don’t like this approach — tax by mileage — how else do propose eliminating the unfair subsidy for rich people? ( You can buy a house in Bakersfield for less than a Tesla Model S with a full battery pack)
Pretty sure the sales tax on that Tesla exceeds what many pay in gas tax over thirty years.
In any respect, there are far more bicycles on the road then Teslas. Shall we tax them per mile, too?
How about those freeloading walkers on our sidewalks? Ankle monitors for all?
Gee thanks, Ryan, I can hear the forehead slaps in Sacramento from here ! lol.
Those free-loading cyclists. More and more city streets are being co-opted for use as bike lanes. When will it end? When will the cyclists pay their fair share? They get to use the roads for free while I sit here and subsidize their bohemian transportation?
I think no.
Biking let’s the Communists win.
**note, I love cyclists.
Wow Sean. Did you take a right hand turn when you should have turned left? How by chance did you land here? I’m not complaining, btw. IMO you are a welcomed addition who brings another pespective. And boy, do we ever need new point-of-views in this old Country of ours. I love a diversity of opinion. Thank you for sharing.
I have nothing against bicyclists. I used to be a recreational one myself. For distances of 3 miles or less I could usually get to my destination faster by bike than by car. And no problem with parking. Just find a nearby tree and wrap a chain around it. I like bicyclists who obey the rules of the road and do not expect special entitlements. Should they be forced to pay rode taxes, test to acquire licenses and pay registration fees, etc….like motorists? I wouldn’t go that far. I prefer small(er) government. And if these mandates were required of bicyclists eventually I’d probably have to get a license to be authorized to take my walks. I don’t want to go there. It’s bad enough now as it is.
*Only if you are dumb enough NOT to wear neon yellow or orange vests
which allow the very blind old people driving their cars to wake up and smell the blood on the streets…because stupid bikers are wearing black and brown at sunrise and sunset. People riding bikes without neon colors should be arrested for endangering the public safety.
One day I was outside while a cop was set up watching for rolling stops at a neighborhood stop sign. I watched the activity for 10 minutes or so. All the sudden a bicyclist rolled down the street and went right through the stop sign at about 15-20mph. I noticed that the cop was watching. He did nothing. A few minutes later a middle-aged woman approached the stop sign. She braked lightly but the tires continued to make full revolutions as she rolled through the sign. The cop was all over her and her ticket was likely north of $400 (including traffic school).
Should bicyclists obey the rules of the road like motorists. Opinions vary. But I believe so. Naturally a bicyclist cannot cause the damage that a multi-ton car could cause. Granted. I realize that. We must apply common sense. But I believe bicyclists are subject to most of the same traffic laws as motorists. But the leniency afforded to them by the enforcement system is unmistakeable. That should change. Especially with the new 3 foot rule that applies only to motorists if they come too close to a bicyclist on the street. The rules of the road should apply equally to all who travel on a set of wheels.
I was mostly joking in my comment. I forgot to put my sarcasm flag on. Apologies all around.
I have a contentious relationship with cyclists. Whereas I enjoy cycling from time to time and think of it as a healthy and (sometimes) efficient way to get around short distances, I do hate it when cities take away perfectly good motorized vehicle lanes to make way for more bike lanes. I know this happens more in LA than it does in OC, but there is a trend moving in that direction. I firmly believe that if the lanes for my car are being made fewer in favor of increasing those for cyclists, they should be made to contribute to those roads in some way. It’s only fair. This is especially true when you see a massive group (20+) of cyclists who decide to take up an entire car lane with their group simply because they have the numbers to do so. I used to see it in Westminster and Seal Beach every Saturday and Sunday.
Also, I’ve seen a lot of cyclists bypass or actively ignore traffic laws while out on the road. Running through stop signs, ignoring signals, cutting across roads, etc. If they want to be treated like vehicles and enjoy the relative safety of their own lanes on roads paid for by taxes not levied against them, they could, at the very least, obey the laws on those roads.
You make very logical and sound arguments that are hard to refute, Mr. Cocca. I like the way you think. I know it’s not fair for bicyclists to operate under a different set of rules. You’re right. America is supposed to represent fairness and equality under the law. At least in Grimm’s Fairy Tales it is. I’ve inquired why I’m mandated under the county laws to license and vaccinate my dog and when my next door neighbor has no legal obligation to license and vaccinate her cat. But no one cares when I mention it. They look at me as if to say: “Shut up and do as the law says. If you don’t like it buy a cat”. I thought the ‘equal protection clause’ found in the 14th Amendment was real. At least that’s what they taught me in my formal education. I guess I was naive and foolish. Oh well. But it’s nice to hear a voice of reason every now and then. Thanks for sharing.
Just thought of this when reading about UPS etc. not wanting to do this to their fleets, what about rental cars. Will the state residents pay for all the “tourons” coming to The Golden State renting cars here and going to the holy grail Disneyland et. al.?
Oh, we tax the shit out of tourists. Hotel tax, rental car tax, you name it.
Unless it’s a gate tax. Then tourism in this county would completely fall apart because that’s clearly a dollar too far.
Where did we find the new guy? LOVE THIS! Welcome to the clown car, Sean. I promise we are not nearly as scary as we seem. Most days.
Sean and the One That Brung Him can explain how he got through the transom.
I think that most of our authors here are conservative-to-libertarian. It’s just that we liberals have to do most of the work. Just like the rest of life — except that Vern and I don’t even get minimum wage! 😉
The fancy new bike lanes have been completed in Santa Ana for a couple of months now. I have not seen ONE bike rider on these streets that I travel multiple times every day.
*The CA Vehicle Code states that Bicycles have the same rights as Automobiles.
When you pass a bike…it must be by at least three feet. If they are blocking the lane you are using….you have to wait, cross over and still give them the same three feet to be legal. Bikes however with the passage of this law are required to follow the same rules as Autos and Trucks and Buses. They are supposed to come to a complete stop at every Stop Sign – Commercial or Residential. They are supposed only proceed when any light is GREEN. There is little doubt that these dummies that are still wearing the Black Italian Racing team outfits from “Breaking Away”. We are killing bicyclist left and right here in Newport Beach. They come down the Newport Coast road wander into the side lane and get hit by drunk, texting, sexting or folks on cell phones that are not paying as much attention as they might. The dumbo bikers meanwhile can’t wait to ride at dusk and dawn and not wear their neons or use blinking lights – as they should. Buyer Beware! Get a Schwinn Beach Cruiser and get busted and ticketed for riding on the sidewalk on Balboa Peninsula. It might be safer!
Soon the Government will be up EVERYONE’S tailpipe !
How many would NOT see that this is a parody ? How many rushed to sign up ?
This a “pilot program”. This new author is making it appear that we will all have GPS tracking on our vehicles (as if we don’t now from Iphones, fitbits, dog collars, a Toyota Prius(albeit only downloadable, not live) and countless other sources. Thats as the old guy would say “Hogwash”.
Tax reform is needed. The state is in a precarious position: how do we pay the BILLION DOLLARS we owe in political bribes to the public employee unions?
How do we somehow move California into the future with HSR and sensible water infastructure AND pay the cost of overly expensive illegal immigration and the fraud associated with it?
If I need to let Sacramento (and some FAT, LAZY CALTRANS hack) track my movements to improve the conditions of the highways, I am OK.
Good article in the OCR. Read thru- refiners profits are up to a buck sixty a gallon in Cali… Yet the headline reads,”Why are gas prices in California so high? Blame it on taxes and refinery issues.” Gas taxes are 59 cents a gallon according to this story.
So Diamond and Vern- why do you bother wasting time on the willfully ignorant? The libertAryan OC is a dead end. The audience you address is the equivalent of vacant male versions of the housewives of OC. Here’s a link-
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/cents-701367-gas-prices.html
*Finally, after all these years…the three cardinal rules of life are stated: Those that can Do……those that can’t Do – Teach and those that can’t teach…bitch and complain bitterly about everybody else!
Come on — we’re wasting time on everyone equally!
Ha!
Well played, Dr. D.
Well, I gave up trying to find what was “good” about the article. The plethora of numeric factoids ? The absence of context ? The “$1.61 profit” was unrelated to anything (dates, location, season, grade, etc.) and no mention of retailer or transport profit or costs, let alone any changes (O-Care hikes?), in the two years pump prices thrown around. A pad and a calculator were no help in untangling this hairball.
The cherry atop the BS sundae was “When crude is under $40., the refiners have almost no cost” – So, NO labor costs, no utilities, insurance, rent, taxes, maintenance, equipment debt payoff, etc. (or changes) ??? ……OOOOHH ! …I got it !… He must work for ISIS, huh?…. That’s GOTTA be it !…… If not, I need to take his “start your own business” class, like, YESTERDAY !
Or did you just need a lead-in for a backhand swipe at the blog ? Why isn’t everyone free to waste (or not) their time differently, without explanation, including you and I? (For the record, I do it for amusement and to keep my verbal acuity sharp, and no, I don’t care for an assessment. Cheers.)
I sense that Urizen was being sarcastic about the “good” Register article. And he/she usually doesn’t put us down.
Bicyclist killed after struck by pick-up truck in Santa Ana identified
SANTA ANA – A 77-year-old bicyclist died Monday night after he was struck by a pick-up truck driver, officials said.
Thuc Van Nguyen of Huntington Beach was riding a bicycle shortly before 6:10 p.m. northbound on La Bonita Street crossing the intersection of the 11000 block of Westminster Avenue when he was struck by a man driving a Toyota T-100 pick-up truck, police said.
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/street-701409-santa-police.html
*Bet he was not wearing a neon vest…..betcha!