I checked online for a registration estimate for a 2021 Chevrolet Bolt in Nevada, $763.
Registration fees are based on MSRP and decline each year for ten years. The first year registration for a 2021 Camero SS would be $777.
My vehicles are 20 years of age, lowest registration fee is $62, truck is $90.
WI registration was $86.50. RE: Lottery IL claimed it was for schools, It went to schools but the budget stayed the same, school funding was decreased by the amount of the lottery profit, so no net gain for the schools.
I’ll just say you have to watch those people very carefully. Money is power and many covet power. Not only the elected folks but the salaried behind the scenes where a lot of schemes originate. There are a multitude of ways to increase the wealth like professional licensing fees and who will argue with that or even see it? Absolutely why we need a strong adversarial system.
When I was a kid (even a student of government wealth then), taxes on homes were based on the value at the last sale. So if in 1955 if you bought a house for $5000, the tax was based on that until it was sold again. If it then ten years later was sold for $10,000, the tax increased and the local government received a windfall. That all changed with re-evaluations every three years to reflect current “market value”. Of course in times like these with increasing values, more money flows in without changing a thing.
Every money manger knows that when times get hard, there are multiple ways to cut expenses. Some you would never do unless forced, but it can be done. So there is nothing wrong with tightening the budget once in a while to force a little efficiency.
Probably. I see where you’re coming from, but although you’re economically right, I don’t think you’re right in principle. On the one hand I do want programs that encourage EVs and discourage fossil-fuel vehicles.
On the other, I don’t think that just because you’re rich enough to buy a Tesla you should get out of paying taxes. That Tesla uses the road just like some guy’s Honda does, and the Tesla driver should have to help maintain it. Letting EV drivers get out of paying for the roads that they are using really translates to yet another tax break for the wealthy on a tax that’s paying for something the wealthy use just as much if not more than the rest of us (because even the non-Tesla EVs are a good deal more expensive than their gas-burning counterparts and therefore tend to be bought by people with money).
Honestly my inclination at this point is to move to a mileage tax for everyone to pay for the roads. And no, we don’t have to put GPS trackers in the cars. Just run it off the odometer.
And then have a fuel efficiency tax that funds something else, like say social programs, which starts at 0 for cars that don’t use any gasoline, and then rises inversely proportional to the vehicle’s mpg. So a 60mpg car pays less than a 30mpg car. And the tax steeply for cars that are on the wrong side of the average fuel efficiency distribution. A 7mpg Lamborghini is gonna pay out the nose.
That way the rich can feel good about getting out of a regular tax if they’re willing to go EV, and people who insist on driving cars that drink more than Hemmingway can be given a solid reason to knock it off.
I think a mpg tax would have a dual effect: Those dinks who just have to drive the lifted 8mpg brodozer trucks will suffer a hit to the wallet, which would make them at least think about seeking something that’s less of a gas guzzler the next time they buy a car.
And consumer demand for more fuel efficient cars to put them above average on the mpg distribution would tend to make that average fuel use number trend upward.
It’s interesting that people have an image of NJ as a state with high taxes and fees, and yet, when I renewed the registration on my Outback last month, it cost a grand total of $66.29. If I had gone to the Motor Vehicle Commission in person, it would have cost $64, but because I opted to do it online and to pay with a credit card, they tacked-on a “convenience fee” of $2.29.
in PA actually the lottery helps to fund programs for seniors, and per PA law, a minimum of 27% of proceeds must be used towards funding programs (usually closer to 30% goes towards funding programs). Wikipedia says that more than $20.1 billion has gone into program funding since the lottery formed in the 70s.
I think that would make the most sense as well
Property taxes assess a mil rate to meet the budget, property value going up or down does not mean more or less income.
Take a look at my post, I said vehicles that plug in need some other mechanism to pay for using the roads. That’s where a per-mile fee might be appropriate.
Where I live it is common to see golf carts on the road, I think they should be licensed and insured.
I thought any vehicle on the road had to be licensed and insured. I guess your state is different. you learn something new everyday here.
It started many years ago in golf course communities to allow driving to the course. Now they are driven to school, church, and malls.
In my area it is common to seem ATV’s of all sizes that are not licensed or insured.
Maybe in a macro sense but in a micro sense for an individual property owner, if value goes up by $50K, you pay tax on the additional value. Reality is if the mil rate stays the same (which here it was even increased), the mil rate applies to the higher property value. My particular taxes went up about $1000 over the past two years. So I’m doing my part.
The problem is that politicians always look for the simplest way out. A flat fee or tax on electric vehicles for road use is not fair, but a use tax of some kind is fair. The right way would be a separate meter on home chargers and a built in tax on public chargers so that electric vehicles pay their fair share based on use of the road.
Someone mentioned roof solar panels. It is time to change the laws regarding those. Right now in many states, the solar panels are allowed to “turn the meter backwards” when the solar panels are producing more power than needed. That means the homeowner is forcing the utility company to buy their power at the same rate the utility sells it for even if the utility does not need it at that time. This is very unfair to the rest of us who now have to pay higher rates to cover the losses incurred by the utility under this system.
Hawaii has the best answer, if you have solar panels, you HAVE to have enough batteries to absorb the excess power and use it when the sun goes down. You cannot “turn the meter backwards”.
Not to get into this but yeah that is a real problem for the power companies. Not only the rates but they have to stay tooled up to cover the peak periods or when the sun don’t shine or the wind don’t blow or water levels are low. I think as we continue down this path we may be seeing an unraveling of what was once a stable energy supply. Sounds good in theory but we are tampering with a system that has worked for years. In Ca for example they buy their peak supply from other states so what happens when this supply is not available to buy?
Agree 100 % you have the right idea but try to convince the politicians 
For some vehicles Oregon offers a per mile use tax for EV’s and plug in Hybrid’s among other passenger vehicles with a credit for fuel taxes paid. Washington state doesn’t have that option yet. The website says the vehicle must get more than 20mpg to participate.
My Rav4 gets 22 city, 28 highway, I am ot sure what you mean!
You’d qualify to use the program, doesn’t specify city or highway mpg
“Only vehicles with a fuel economy of 20 MPG or more are eligible to participate in OReGO”
I tried it but I don’t get it! put in 25 mpg and 300 miles per month.
Your monthly OReGO payment will be $1.08 more than your State Fuel Tax payment.