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I am fully in favor of electric vehicles and the huge advantage of reduced emissions. But there is an aspect of fairness to all users of the roads that was not addressed in a recent Bangor Daily News OpEd.
Per the Maine Revenue Services webpage: “Motor fuel excise tax is a tax per gallon on motor fuel sold at retail in Maine. The tax is included in the price of every gallon sold to consumers in Maine. The money is deposited into the highway fund and used for transportation projects in Maine.”
The state fuel tax rate for gasoline is 30 cents per gallon. The intent of this was for users of the roads to help pay for them. There needs to be a mechanism for electric vehicles to also pay their share. Federal gas tax is 18.4 cents per gallon.
The $1.96 per 100 miles quoted in the OpEd should have a surcharge of $1.20 for the state and a charge of 74 cents for federal (based on four gallons per the OpEd). The new total for the electric vehicle should be $3.90; this is still a significant savings on gas. It will be interesting to see how this is addressed in the future.
Mary Hudson
Bangor
