Editor’s note: This commentary is by Caleb Magoon, a business owner and community leader from Hyde Park who serves on the state board of the Main Street Alliance. This piece was first published in the News & Citizen and Stowe Reporter.
Most Vermonters are well aware that our roads and bridges are in rough shape and the only thing holding back their rehabilitation is available funds.
For years, the gas tax — our primary source of road-repair funds — has been waning as vehicles become more fuel-efficient and Montpelier has yet to find a new long-term funding source.
While the search for a solution continues, the place we should be looking at is electric vehicles. As it stands, owners of electric vehicles and hybrids pay significantly less for our infrastructure than everyone else who pays through the gas tax. As we look for additional funding for our transportation infrastructure, compelling electric vehicle owners to pay their fair share should be part of the solution.
I see this not just as an issue of transportation funding, but of economic fairness. Our current system for paying for roads is quite regressive. Who primarily owns older vehicles that get poor gas mileage? Lower-income Vermonters do. Who drives newer vehicles that get good mileage or, better yet, electric vehicles? Those Vermonters who can afford it do.
Sadly, our citizens with limited means are paying for a disproportionate amount of our transportation infrastructure through the gas tax.
The inherent unfairness of this system doesn’t stop there. Electric vehicles also enjoy the advantage of free fuel (electrical power) at many plug-in stations around Vermont. Many of those fueling stations were funded in part by state grant money and offer free fueling to those who use them.
Ironically, this great benefit goes to those Vermonters who need it least and is subsidized by those who most need economic help for transportation.
But wait, there’s more. You can also get a rebate from most of the electrical utilities in Vermont for your electric car purchase. The rebate is even larger if you are “low-income.” For some utilities, little proof that you are “low-income” is required; you need only check the box.
I can’t imagine many Tesla owners are low-income, yet at least one has claimed that status for a larger rebate. Sad to say that low-income Vermonters are subsidizing (through electric rates) folks who can afford a Tesla.
Don’t mistake me; I have absolutely nothing against the people going out and getting electric vehicles. Nor do I fault initiatives that build charging stations and offer free charging. In fact, I think this is the wave of the future and we should do what we can to encourage the expansion of these vehicles.
But my support does not include financial incentives. The market is sufficiently encouraging this ownership through the expansion of quality, affordable vehicles and the inherent savings electric vehicle owners will realize. I’m just not sure a rebate of a few hundred dollars on a $50,000 vehicle is really going to convince anyone to make a purchase they otherwise would not.
Recently the Vermont Public Interest Research Group has suggested that, as part of Vermont’s effort to reach our renewable energy goals, we should create state funded rebates for electric vehicles. This is a bridge too far — asking low-income Vermonters to subsidize vehicles is simply too much.
If anything, we should be finding a way to improve the efficiency of vehicles that lower-income Vermonters own. If our goal is a greener transportation system, helping lower-income Vermonters take the oldest vehicles off the road is the way to do it. Insignificant subsidies for expensive vehicles that people are motivated to buy anyway are not the answer.
There are plenty of reasons to promote electric vehicles and their use. But as a matter of economic fairness, we should be making sure that electric vehicle owners are paying their fair share. As a matter of economic fairness, the cost of our roads should not be placed disproportionately on the backs of low-income Vermonters as it now is.
