t
he Joint Study Committee on the Electrification of Transportation has endorsed the Georgia Department of Transportation’s pilot program taxing motorists based on vehicle miles traveled.
Charging a mileage tax would recoup what state leaders see as a potential loss in revenue via the gas tax. Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, suspended the gas tax to help Georgians counter rising inflation.
So far, the state hasn’t seen much of an impact from not collecting the gas tax, which typically totals about $170 million per month. The state has seen its other revenues increase and has turned to federal handouts for various initiatives, such as grants to increase broadband across the state.
In the report, the committee said it supports enforcing a “fair methodology to replace the loss in revenue from motor fuel taxes” and recommends legislative action requiring the Georgia Department of Transportation to determine a “fair road usage charge for all EVs operating in Georgia.”
“The Study Committee recommends that any legislative action taken to recoup the shortfall in the collection of the gas tax be carefully constructed so that emerging technology and fuel sources can easily be incorporated into a formula or process,” the committee wrote in its final report.
Fees “such as road usage charges or vehicle miles traveled should be comparable to the fuel tax paid by an equivalent conventional vehicle,” the committee concluded.
