Ohio economists split on gas tax replacement

Ohio has paused its gasoline tax in an attempt to bring down high fuel prices, but some are debating whether to replace it altogether. In a recent survey, Ohio economists weighed the options.

Revenue from the gas tax is mostly used to build and maintain roads and bridges. And as electric vehicles and hybrids proliferate, a “vehicle miles traveled fee” would ensure a stable source of funding, the thinking goes.

When asked whether that would be more efficient than a gas tax, a panel of Ohio economists divided, according to a survey conducted last week by Scioto Analysis. Sixteen said it would be, 11 said it would not be, and four were uncertain.

In the comments section of the survey, Lucas Englehardt of Kent State University agreed that a miles-traveled fee makes sense in terms of funding road maintenance. But he said policymakers need to be cognizant of other expenses created by gas-burning cars.

“In as far as the goal is funding roads, it makes sense to proportion the fee to the use of roads — miles traveled being a reasonable approach, and much more representative of the benefit than ‘fuel used’ is,” he wrote.

“The one wrinkle here: the gas tax is part road user fee but also part emissions charge. So, for the question of road funding, a per-mile charge is more efficient — but that doesn’t mean that it’s more efficient overall.”

David Brasington of the University of Cincinnati disagreed that a miles-traveled fee would be more efficient for a practical reason. He said people probably wouldn’t go along with its implementation.

“If you use GPS tracking of Ohio drivers, it would be feasible, but people would probably have big privacy concerns,” he wrote. “Other ways of implementing a miles-driven system have high costs of administering the system compared to a gas tax.”

Ali Enami of the University of Akron said he thought a miles-traveled tax would be more efficient than a gas tax. But he said that if the purpose is to maintain roads, vehicle weight should also be taken into account.

Research has shown that a loaded, five-axle truck does as much damage to a road as hundreds or even thousands of cars, depending on the road’s condition.

“I would add that other factors, such as vehicle weight, should be included in the calculation of the fee,” Enami wrote. “That is, holding vehicle miles traveled constant, a road used by heavier vehicles would require more frequent repairs.”

When it comes to fairness, Ohio already digs a little deeper into the pockets of those who drive the most fuel-efficient vehicles. Owners of hybrids pay a $100 annual fee while those who have plug-in hybrids pay $150 and owners of full EVs pay $200.

Kevin Egan of the University of Toledo said that means that those driving fully electric vehicles are already paying more than the average gas-powered motorist is paying in gas tax.

“Ohio’s $200 annual registration fee on electric vehicles (vs. $35 for a gas car) is already a little more than the average gas car driver pays in state gas tax so this change already makes-up for lost state gas tax revenue from an electric car,” he wrote.

“The advantage is it is easy to implement as it is just a higher annual registration fee. Yes, a vehicle-miles-traveled fee would be more efficient as those driving electric cars more would then pay more, but it would require tracking each vehicle’s annual mileage, which is not currently done.”