Editorial

Editorial

Tax trucks

State Sen. Charles L. Waddell, D-L(. u< bun-F air fax, is championing a measure that we thought had merit when it was proposed last year.

The cost of construction and maintenance of the Commonwealth’s highways is paid for by user fees on vehicles. The fee rates are determined through complex schedules and a variety of collection methods. The state gasoline tax, for example, goes into the highway fund. So do the road-use taxes paid by commercial vehicles.

The idea behind the user fee schedule is to charge highway users a fee based on the cost their use entails. The charge is proportional: the larger and heavier the vehicle and the more frequent its use on the roads, the larger the fee.

A study by the Virginia Department of Transportation in 1989 unearthed inequities in the system. Sen. Waddell’s bill is designed to address those inequities.

For the average motorist, the most important finding of the study is that passenger vehicles overpay by 6 percent. For every $1 in highway costs charged to passenger vehicles, those same vehicles generate $1.06 in revenue. It doesn’t sound like ‘much, but the excess payment totals $66 million a year, according to the VDOT study. , Tractor-trailer trucks pay 93 Cents in revenue for each $1 in costs. Each year, that underpayment costs the highway fund $17 million.

Single-unit trucks pay 85 percent of the cost of their use, according to the study, an underpayment of $10 million each ;.year. Light commercial trucks, those with two axles and dual rear wheels, pay only 77 cents in user fees for each $1 of their cost, That amounts to $18 million in lost revenue each year.

Buses are far and away the worst offenders. Commercial bus companies pay less than one-third — 30 percent — of the equitable fee based on their road use. This is largely due to exemptions from state and federal user fees. The exemption .costs the state highway fund $20 million in revenue each year.

Overweight trucks, which are assessed a surcharge based ;on the weight, are also not pulling their load. Some are exempt from the overweight fee, but even those that pay don’t cover t the damage done to roads by the extra weight.

Sen. Waddell’s bill would significantly increase the fees ‘paid by commercial vehicles, bringing them closer to the costs of their use. In addition to increases in the vehicle registration .fees, he also proposes a 2 percent surcharge added to the motor vehicle sales and use tax for all two- and three-axle trucks purchased in the state.

Sen. Waddell’s bill deserved more consideration last year. . We hope that it gets a better reception during the coming ses- sion. >r