A price to pay for alternative fuels by BRUCE HENDERSON
 

Forgive me if this is a repost, I didn't check:

http://www.charlotte.com/171/story/153260.html

yeah, the fuel tax here is big business! that and the hotel tax aimed at "tourists" when the fuel prices jumped due to katrina most states dropped the tax hike, but the government around here blocked a bill to prevent the 6% tax hike on fuel... sad, very sad.

Guess I wont be putting any stickers on my car!

Heck I thought I moved AWAY from big government (Wisconsin) just to find that NC does it differently.

And we wonder why there is not a big push for alternative fuels.

Watch.... now the state will go after the Hybrid folks! After all they are not using gas for some of the time! Does that mean I need to pay taxes for my electric Golf cart I drive around?

I have already sent out letter to my State representatives about this article.

I am under the impression that the state government is actually working on a bill to charge the hybrid drivers a surcharge on their registration, or emission testing to make up for the fuel tax that they don't pay... seriously!

Consider that they guy buying a Toyota Prius gets a big tax credit, then runs down the road using far less tax-revenue-generating fuel. Instead of a fine he gets a tax credit, is allowed to legally avoid the additional road taxes, and is probably invited to drive alone in the HOV lanes to boot.

The problem is that the structure for collecting road taxes as a use tax - by taxing the fuel - no longer works. It would now make more sense to charge road taxes based on annual mileage and weight of vehicle.

No matter which way you go, someone's going to cry foul! Should be interesting to watch this unfold.

Well then a note to them will only (eh-hem) "grease" the skids.

I'll be here all week. Tip your waitresses. Try the veal.:singer: :laugh3:

What is unfair? He was driving on illegal fuel, not paying his taxes and thinks he was right?

He was right to get fined. Too bad other states don't go this far to catch them.

I agree that it is not unreasonable to pay some amount of tax since fuel taxes are use taxes intended to pay for road construction and maintenance. However, given a national if not global objective of reducing dependency on fossil fuels, it is reasonable that there should be some form of incentive for those making the effort to use an alternative fuel. Tax reductions or waivers are a common driver of public policy. Not everyone does this just to save a buck, and tax avoidance is not the same as intentional tax evasion.

I just don't think it's as cut and dry as you seem to conclude.

Interesting.....the quote in the article is "making sure the playing field is level".
How? The government wants everyone to think they have a handle on this new emerging alternative stuff.....but there will never be enough manpower to police everything. So they do the next best thing and go after the guy with the "Red Flag" on his vehicle. The sticker declaring his independance!
The guy meant well....trying to post his commitment and promoting alternative fuel. As my dad said to me back in the early 70's " if you think your man enough to try to create change then you better be man enough to face the consequences alone if need be".

When it all washes out ie. hybrid, veggie oil, electric, ethanol..... the government will just level a Flat Tax on every vehicle that you have registered.......it won't matter if you drive 1 mile or 50K a year or what source of power you use. The money has to come from somewhere for road & bridge repair and transportation programs.

Most everyone I have met around Denver/Boulder keeps touting that they pay about $0.60/gallon for fuel. Not one of them has said anything about paying their share of road tax yet they always complain how poor the roads are and how long road construction takes to finish.

I hate paying taxes just like everyone else, but road tax is one of the few that I'm slightly more willing give.

By that statement, then electric cars should also be taxed, along with bicycles.
Yes, bicycles....they use the road, and are used for transportation. I've always felt that they should also have tags, same as any other vehicle on public roads.

I also think that HOV lane rules either need to be revised or eliminated. The law should state, any vehicle with two or more licensed drivers and just not two occupants. Toting a three year old around does not eliminate another vehicle on the road, nor does carrying an unlicensed driver.

As to a fair road tax, probably the mileage approach, but that would be opening a Pandora's box.... Overall, the best approach would be to eliminate tax and penalties on home fuel, but keep the other in place. That would not penalize those that spend more to help the environment, such as Bio fuel people and also the electric car people. Or, if you wanted to tax the Bio fuel, make provisions to allow deductions for the additional cost of production, including labor, as a form of ecology credit or credit for domestic fuel. As of now, it's no different than having HOV lanes.

Lance, I agree with you......if your tires touch a public road way you need to pay the tax! This is not a third world country where the term "road" is used to describe something an Ox Cart can barely navigate.

" Done in by a bumper sticker"

That's why I could never understand why people actually advertised using VO as fuel. Would you put a 420 or budwieser sticker on your car? Any attention it could draw would be negative, that's why I try to fly under the radar when I'm using this stuff!:dizzy2:

:eek: Too bad other states dont go this far???????????????:freak:

And then we wonder why we pay high prices when it is "illegal" to try other fuels....

An illegal fuel... the only time I have ever heard that was in a race.

This guy was paying more for his fuel in order to try to do his part to lessen dependency on foreign fuels..... not trying to get around taxes.

Vegetable oil from Costco is for human cooking and consumption, not burning in an internal combustion engine. The EPA has not cleared it to be used as fuel, it is not taxed to be used as fuel, and MB's engines were not made to use it as fuel.

So what if he was doing it to "lessen his dependency on foreign oil"? There are plenty of stations in S.C. that sell biodiesel, they even have a plant that manufactures it! HERE is a list of stations in SC. I'll summarize it with this quote:I'd love for Colorado to grow a pair and take an investigation to Boulder. They could probably collect a few million $ in tax evasion cases.

I welcome high fuel prices! I only pay $35 for a tank of B20 biodiesel that lasts me for two weeks. Even at $3.00/gallon, fuel cost is not as extreme as people play it out to be.