PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • August 13, 2021
Excise taxes are calculated on the basis of a vehicle’s age and suggested retail price. But what do those have to do with the wear and tear on Maine roads? The wear and tear on roads is a function of physics, not economics or finance. Asphalt doesn’t care what arbitrary mill rate an actuary applies to an almost equally arbitrary sticker price. In assessing the excise tax – that is, to pay for the wear and tear on roads and the environment – what matters should be the differences in weight, miles per gallon and miles driven. To pave the way for infrastructure solvency in the 2020s, we have to trade in our revenue stream from the 1920s for a newer model. ~ Lincoln Paine, historian, Portland