Fair Miles study eyes replacing taxes at pump

Nov. 14—Cherokee Nation Community Services Director Michael Lynn reported during a committee meeting last week on a task force to study the feasibility of a "fair mile tax" to replace the state fuel taxes collected at gas pumps.

Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. appointed Lynn to serve as a tribal representative for the CN on the Oklahoma Department of Transportation study.

"[When it started] it was called the road user charge task force. As the group met, we thought it was negative and [changed it to] Fair Miles Oklahoma," Lynn said.

The task force is studying additional ways to fund transportation projects within Oklahoma. At present, the collection of state and federal taxes on every gallon of fuel purchased by Oklahoma residents funds highway projects.

"With more and more electric vehicles, revenue collections have gone down drastically, and it is going to continue to decline," Lynn said. "ODOT has been charged by the Legislature to seek alternative ways to try and collect additional revenue to take the place of the collections of state tax at fuel pumps."

Lynn explained that the task force is looking at how drivers could be assessed a "per mile charge" that they would pay every month. This is a pilot project that has been in place for almost a year and is set to wrap up in December, with a final report to the legislature, Lynn said.

"I have personally been part of that project with a device that plugs into my truck and logs the miles I drive. [It] sends me a fake invoice at the end of the month. I think there are 300 people who signed up for the pilot program," Lynn said. "There's also a national initiative that is for the federal taxes as well. Not quite sure what that will look like. Since this is a pilot project,it may pan out not to go that route."

The group is currently looking at either a device that plugs into the vehicle or a self-reporting method. On newer vehicles, "telematics" built into some of the newer vehicles might collect the data, Lynn said.

"There have been some privacy issues with people collecting GPS locations, etc. One thing they are not supposed to do is if you are driving off road, like on your ranch, and not on a county, state or city highway, not to count miles against you," Lynn said. "It's nothing that's coming around really soon, but it is something that is on the horizon."

Studies show the average driver in Oklahoma pays about $120 a year in fuel taxes, Lynn said.

District 9 Tribal Councilor Mike Shambaugh asked Lynn what he would have ended up paying a month on the fake invoices.

"My bills that I've been seeing are $3 to $5 a month," Lynn said. "Right now, it would just be for state taxes until they do something on the national level, and [state tax] is about 19 to 20 cents per gallon."

Shambaugh asked what the point was in charging by the mile, instead of via taxes collected at the pump.

"To make it fair for those people who are using the roads [with electric vehicles] that are not paying their share of the taxes to utilize the road system," Lynn said. "You only get charged for the mileage you travel."

The tribes of Oklahoma, including CN, have a revenue-sharing compact with the state of about 4.5%, which means about $25.5 million annually across the entire state, not just CN, Lynn said.

The study is looking at how rental cars would be handled. The only way Oklahoma gets taxes from tourists driving rental cars is if they fill up in Oklahoma, Lynn said.

"Have you been a part of this discussion about the new road from Tulsa to Siloam Springs and taking away a lot of the exits?" Shambaugh said.

According to the executive summary by HTMB Corp., an American infrastructure design firm, the U.S. 412 Permissible Exposure Levels Study area extends approximately 190 miles from I-35 in Oklahoma to I-49 in Arkansas.

The $130 million U.S. 412 Improvements for Interstate Designation project would mean the addition of 14 grade separations, including eight new interchanges and six new overpasses; bridge modifications; resurfacing of existing structures; and the addition of new ramps.

"That's taking US 412 from basically north of Stillwater into Arkansas and tying into an interstate highway, and turning US 412 into an interstate highway. It won't be [named] interstate 412 — it will be another number," Lynn said.