More use of electric and hybrid cars combined with decling gas tax revenues drove Illinois Senate President John Cullerton to propose a new miles tax to replace the gas tax. Under the plan, drivers would be taxed by mile so even electric cars — which still cause wear and tear to roads — would help pay for road improvements.
The proposed plan would let drivers choose to pay a 1.5-cent-per-mile tax on a base 30,000 miles traveled per year or place a device in their cars which monitors their miles. The device monitors miles in two ways, either tracking where drivers go so as not to charge drivers traveling out of state or on Illinois toll roads or monitoring the odometer reading but not tracking the rest of the information.
According to Cullerton, the new proposal would probably help driver of gas fueled vehicles pay less in total compared to the current gas tax. Owners of more efficient cars may pay more in taxes, but they still are spending less on gas to begin with.
(more on Senator Cullerton's Illinois miles tax proposal...)
