My response:
I vehemently oppose this additional tax on already overtaxed San Diego residents for the following reasons:
1. Based on current requirement set by the NHTSA CAFE of 37mpg for passenger vehicles sold, a 4.5 cent tax per mile equates to an additional $1.67/gallon tax on fuel. This is will nearly triple California’s already top tax rate per gallon, increase costs for all forms of transportation (and delivered goods) and disproportionately affect the poor.
2. Not all miles on San Diego registered vehicles are traveled on San Diego roads, making citizens pay taxes on roads and transportation they do not utilize. This is especially true for residents who live near the county line and travel away from San Diego. Tracking these fees would be impossible.
3. Please utilize the existing tax and registration hike to pay for items that improve transportation for the ratepayer. If public transportation improvements are to be made, that cost should be shouldered by those that use it. Asking taxpayers to pay additional taxes per mile on projects that primarily do not benefit them (based on App U) will result in unrealized revenue and unfair taxation for those who do not utilize these services. Please reconsider this additional taxation.
And “He/Him/His” response:
Supervisor Lawson-Remer has made it clear that she does not support a road usage charge, also known as a “vehicles miles tax”, unless approved by a direct vote of the people at the ballot box. Neither the 2021 SANDAG Regional Transportation Plan nor the proposed 2022 ‘Let’s Go San Diego’ Citizens’ Measure to fund improvements in our local transportation infrastructure would impose a road charge or “vehicle mileage tax”. In the coming years, San Diegans will have to wrestle with how we pay to reduce traffic and improve safety as we phase out the Gas Tax. The Supervisor looks forward to participating in these conversations.
At least they understand this is a political death sentence.
