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Nowhere to run to. Nowhere to hide.
The Oregon Daily Emerald on the world wide web.
www.dailyemerald.com
- -• - *..»• •« *....... ,.> i
Voters to decide
on two measures
altering gas tax
■ lf,passed, one measure
adds taxes and the other
uses taxes for police patrols
By Josh Ryneal
Oregon Daily Emerald
Two measures on the state ballot
could change the way Oregon uses
gas tax revenue, but only one
would make Oregonians pay more
at the pump.
Measure 82 would increase Ore
gon’s gas tax by five cents to 29
cents a gallon. If passed, the meas
ure would fund the
construction of
new roads and
highways at both
the state and local
levels. The meas
ure would also
change the way
heavy vehicles are
taxed by repealing the current
weight and mile taxation system
and replacing it with a diesel fuel
tax.
Measure 80 would not impact
state or local revenues and expen
ditures, but would amend the Ore
gon Constitution and empower the
state to use revenues from fuel and
vehicle taxes to increase highway
patrol budgets.
Supporters of Measure 82 say
that $600 million worth of vital
highway construction projects
would be funded by the tax in
crease, and truckers would be held
accountable to the same tax stan
dards as regular motorists. •
Opponents allege the Oregon De
partment of Transportation
(ODOT), which would administer
the funds raised through Measure
82, has mismanaged the money it
already receives and say that small
Oregon trucking companies would
be hurt by the measure’s passage.
Pat McCormick, spokesman for
Fair Funding for Better Roads, said
the tax increase would be fair for all
motorists.
“Oregon funds roads with the
fees from road users, and I think
this is a fair way to decide who pays
how much; the more you drive, the
more you pay,” he said.
McCormick said Oregon’s total
automotive taxes are the second
lowest on the West Coast, even with
the increases contained in the
measure.
“We have a very low registration
tax and a relatively high gas tax, but
when you look at the cost benefits
of the measure, they are very good,”
he said.
Truckers would also get a fair
shake, McCormick said, because
their unwifeldy and complicated
weight and mile taxes would be re
placed with a “simple” diesel tax
that would be paid at the pump.
However, even supporters of the
measure concede that Measure 82
will probably not pass, given cur
rently high gas prices and Oregon’s
anti-tax atmosphere.
“Oregon has high gas prices, but
they have nothing to do with gas
taxes,” McCormick said. “Twenty
nine cents a gallon is not much, and
if Oregonians want better roads, an
increase will be inevitable.”
Becky Miller, executive assistant
to Bill Sizemore, director of Oregon
Taxpayers United, disagrees with
the idea that ODOT will use the rev
enue from the measure efficiently.
“If there was real accountability
in ODOT, this would be a different
story,” she said. “But ODOT has a
reputation as a black hole, and no
body knows,where the money
Gas tax measures
State Baiiot Measure 80 would
amend the Oregon Constitution to
allow state and local governments
to utilize money from the state
Highway Fund to train and hire
more highway patrol officers.
Supporters say that the measure
would not increase taxes, but in
stead would allow state and local
governments to use existing funds
for more officers.
There is no organized opposition
to this measure.
State Baiiot Measure 82 would in
crease Oregon’s gas tax by five
cents to fund highway construc
tion projectsand repeal heavy
trucking weight and mile taxes, re
placing them with a diesel fuel tax
at the pump.
Supporters say that Oregon’s high
ways are in need of repair and ex
tension, and this would provide
funding for these projects.
Opponents say that ODOT is not ac
countable enough to warrant
more funds, and the measure
would shift the tax burden off of
the heavy trucking industry and
hurt small Oregon trucking com
panies.
goes.”
Miller was also concerned with
the measure’s impact on small
trucking businesses in Oregon, stat
ing that small freight lines would
bear the brunt of costs.
“Big companies, along with com
panies with exemptions, like
garbage and recycling services,
would pay relatively little and
transfer a lot of expenses to the
small guys,” she said.
In contrast with Measure 82,
Measure 80 would not increase
state or local taxes, and has the sup
port of Governor John Kitzhaber
and former governor Victor Atiyeh
There is no organized opposition
to the measure, which would allow
state and local governments to ap
propriate money from the ODOT
Highway Fund to hire and train
more highway patrol officers.
Glen Rader Jr., director of Citi
zens For Safe Streets, Roads and
Highways, said that nothing in the
measure states that the money has
to be used at any time.
If the measure passes, state and
local governments would be able to
request more funds for their budg
ets from the Highway Fund, some
thing that is currently not allowed
under the Oregon Constitution. *
According to Rader, there is
plenty of money left in the fund to
provide this service to taxpayers.
“There is $1.5 billion flowing
into the Highway Fund every year,
and I think that there is $125 mil
lion of that left over after all the con
struction and improvements have
been made,” he said.
Lloyd Clodfelter, president of the
Help Our Troopers organization,
said that part of the reason he sup
ports this measure is to help out
what he considers severely under
staffed policing agencies. Clodfel
ter said that there are not enough of
ficers to keep highways safe and to
provide enough backup for other
officers making dangerous stops.
“In 1980, we had about 650 offi
cers on the highway patrol until the
legislature took their budget provi
sions out of the Highway Fund,” he
said. “ Now, we are down to around
350 and that’s not enough to protect
either motorists or other officers.”