Fee for electric and hybrid cars is sensible

POLITICIANS are often derided for rushing to raise taxes simply because they want more money to spend. That stereotype is not unfair in many instances. But not all tax or fee increases are simply an effort to gouge citizens.

A proposal to impose fees for electric and hybrid cars in Oklahoma is a case in point.

Oklahomans pay fuel taxes in part to support maintenance of state highways and bridges (at least in theory). Thus, everyone who drives pays for the roads. But that model has been disrupted by the emergence of hybrid vehicles that use far less gasoline and by electric cars that use no gasoline. Drivers of those vehicles provide less support for the road system.

In fact, it’s argued that hybrids and electric cars may contribute more to the wear and tear on roads than traditional gasoline-fueled vehicles because the “green” vehicles weigh more.

Thus, House Bill 1449 would implement a $30 annual fee on hybrid vehicles and a $100 fee on electric vehicles. That’s in line with what several other states have done. In 2015, at least 10 states imposed a fee for electric vehicles, with Georgia being the highest at $200 to $300. The fee was $100 or more in Washington, Idaho and North Carolina. Five other states had already implemented fees for electric cars at that time, including Missouri and Colorado.

This year, lawmakers in six other states are considering fees for electric vehicles, according to the Sierra Club. That group includes Indiana, South Carolina, Kansas, Tennessee, New Hampshire and Montana.

Gov. Mary Fallin included the fees in her budget proposal. The governor’s executive budget notes, “Since these vehicles do not pay the equivalent amount of motor fuel taxes like gasoline, diesel and compressed natural gas vehicles, pay adjustments need to be made to cover transportation funding lost with conversions to these types of vehicles.”

State officials expect the fee on electric vehicles to generate about $212,600 each year based the current number of such vehicles in the state (2,126). The fee on hybrid vehicles is expected to generate $799,260 annually (based on more than 26,000 hybrid cars currently in Oklahoma).

The combined revenue generated by the two fees will be slightly over $1 million per year, which is only a small amount in the grand scheme of all transportation funding. But the fees still require people driving those vehicles to support the road system more in proportion to their usage, which is fair.

Supporters of electric and hybrid vehicles object that the added cost of the fee may discourage people from buying the cars. Yet those buying traditional gasoline cars do so knowing they will also pay fuel tax every time they gas up. For electric car owners to pay an annual fee doesn’t seem excessive in comparison.

Critics also argue that one cause of reduced transportation funding in Oklahoma is that the state fuel tax hasn’t kept pace with inflation. That’s a valid point, but also a separate debate.

Calls to impose a fee on electric and hybrid cars are not designed to kill those niche industries, but to seek fairness in road funding. That’s a worthy goal, and lawmakers shouldn’t apologize for pursuing it.