Fueling your vehicle will become more costly under House Bill 2025, the transportation package of Democrats in the legislature.
We all have heard vague estimates of the jaw-dropping increases in road taxes Democrats in the Oregon legislature are poised to pass. Now, we have a more definite idea how much more costly living in Oregon will become.
The Legislative Revenue Office has just published a 10-page report on the “revenue impact” of the latest version of House Bill 2025, the majority’s transportation package. You can read it online here.
First, the bill raises the Oregon motor vehicle fuel tax from 40 cents a gallon now to 50 cents in 2026 and 55 cents in 2028. That change alone will cost drivers an estimated $241 million more in the coming biennium.
Then, the fuel tax will be raised in coming biennia in line with inflation, saving future legislatures the chore of having to vote on it again.
There are several other changes, too, such as a sales tax on new and used vehicles sold for more than $10,000. The bill says that if you buy a vehicle in another state, you have to pay the tax when your register it here.
Under this bill, the Highway Fund will get $820 million more in he coming two years, and $2 billion more in the biennium after that.
In addition, other tax and fee increases would go to programs outside the Highway Fund, such as public transit and rail, and to cover various administrative costs.
All together, the report says, people in Oregon will be expected to pay $1 billion more in 2025-27 in transportation-related fees and taxes. They’ll pay additional billions in the following biennia until the total net increase, over what we pay now, reaches $4.2 billion in 2033-35.
What do Oregon taxpayers get in return? The revenue report doesn’t say. (hh)
This notice on a gas pump in Albany will be only a fond memory if the state gas tax increases and the city adds a local tax as well.
I can tell you what we get. An addition to the bloated bureacracy of ODOT, who in their own words, have only built one new road in 40 years and thats the extension to the Milwaukie Expressway in Clackamas
Hasso, in the time the Dems have controlled statewide politics, can you point to anything the governor and legislature have done and say “that was a great idea”?
It may be time to go all electric.
Surprise! Electric vehicles will not be exempt. According to the bill, EVs will be subject to either a per mile fee (Tax!) or an annual fee (Tax!).
We EV owners already pay the fee of $115, or a per-mile charge.
EVs have Gross Vehicle Weight at least 50% more than an ICE vehicle. That is to say EVs cause more wear and tear on the roads than ICE vehicles and so need to pay more for road maintenance
Electric vehicles are already taxed. $115/ year for license plates vs $26/ year for gas vehicles. That $89 difference divided by 40 cents (the current gas tax rate) equals 222.5.
A gas vehicle getting 25 mpg using 222.5 gallons would go 5,562 miles. Looks to me like EVs are already paying their fair share.
Do EV’s also pay a FEDERAL TAX per mile?. IF so, you have to add that to your numbers, which would put it down to 3800 miles/yr. Little old ladies drive at least twice that and average is probably at least 5X that.
Add all the “FREE FUEL” you can get at various places and it turns out EV’s are paying FAR LESS than their share. It’s pretty simple arithmetic.
BTW- what’s the true cost when they try to “recycle” the toxic batteries? Remember how CFL light bulbs were a wonderful idea?
Please tell me me where these “FREE FUEL” places are, I would like to go there.
According to a June 5, Quinnipiac University, Poll, 70% of registered voters in the poll disapprove with the job that the Democrats are doing.
Ideologically captured robot Neighbors continue to vote for Democrats regardless of the party’s policies that inevitably cost us more money. Democrats love taxation. Don’t you know that by now people?!
In the meantime, the city will continue to build all that workforce housing. Where are all those people supposed to work and how are they going to get there? Let me guess. Will it be all the mass transit that the city will provide or Linn County or Benton County or the state of Oregon? What if people can’t afford to drive anymore because of these taxes?Are they all supposed to work out of their homes? Is that what workforce housing is? this such a horrible precedent for how the state will be funding itself over the next few decades and what if _anything_ Oregonians will get in return other than a balanced budget or a kicker (one day…)
Your info makes it pretty obvious why CNBC, those MAGA right-wing hacks, in 2024 gave Oregon an “F” for business friendliness and a “C-” for cost of living.
Living and doing business in Oregon is not easy or cost-effective for the plebs.
But voters continue to elect progressives. It’s a conundrum.
When the other choice is a GOP that cannot govern, a GOP that simply does not appeal to the majority of Oregonians, the Dems are the only choice. The GOP in Oregon used to nominate candidates who reflected the hopes and dreams a decent-sized segment of the populace. After Vic Atiyeh, the GOP took a nasty turn to the idiot Right and have been Back Benchers ever since. Deservedly so given the alleged “prinicples” the GOP allegedly believes in.
Offer Oregonians something Oregonians want and you will be elected. Otherwise, Albany will be stuck with the lackluster Boshart-Davis, a legislator who only surfaces when it is time to grab campaign contributions from the hopeful on the Right. Thus far, Boshart-Davis has not exactly distinguished herself as a leader. That’s not expected to change.
CNBC….right wing…. LOL!!
So all this loot, er. oops, ‘revenue’ … and there’s nothing for Albany’s roads? (Drive to Albany General or the court building, to see how street maintenance is not done.)
Stay tuned for the local proposal for an Albany gas tax or a transportation service fee on your water bill to address the local streets, like in front of the hospital. You may want to follow the business of the city council: https://albanyoregon.gov/council
The revenue report, of course, would not detail expenditures. It only deals with the money-getting part of the equation. A year long conversation (that’s already happening) between civic leaders, civil engineering professionals and ODOT bureaucrats will lead to a roadmap called the Oregon Transportation Reinvestment Package (TRIP.) The thesis of TRIP is 1. tax road use fairly (including those free loading EV owners, and worse, those bike riders) 2. Capture local expertise to prioritize projects and (hopefully) oversee honest value in infrastructure rebuilding.
Don’t believe just me. Go to the testimony tab of HB2025 and look up the 06/10/25 testimony from Medford/Jackson County (posted by Cindy Robert, but authored by Medford’s City Manager, Rob Field, and the well known Jackson County Administrator, Danny Jordan.
https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2025R1/Measures/Testimony/HB2025
I love your love for some bureaucratic report. Have you forgotten Hasso reporting that ODOT was spending $5 million to see if I-5 should be widened to 3 lanes from Salem to Albany. Anybody traveling between Albany and Salem could have provided the information for free.
Gas prices are also not going to be helped if the Orange King starts a war with Iran. Plus, his tariffs on Canada don’t help them either. American refineries use a lot of Canadian oil, whereas a lot of American oil is exported because Canadian oil is better suited for US refineries. There should be no tariff on Canadian oil.
I currently commute 108 miles per day round trip. If Albany want to charge a city tax on fuel, I’m happy to get my fuel at any number of places along my commute. If the state wants to charge an extra $0.10, then I will start working from home.