Satellites Could Track Oregon Vehicles For 'Mileage Tax' to Replace Gas Tax

SALEM -- Governor Kulongoski says he plans to ask the Legislature to begin moving Oregon away from the gas tax as the central funding source for transportation and to replace it with a mileage tax boosted by satellite technology.

A year ago, the Oregon Department of Transportation announced it had demonstrated that a mileage tax could work.

The proposal is part of a transportation-related bill he has filed for the upcoming session.

The governor wants the task force "to partner with auto manufacturers to refine technology that would enable Oregonians to pay for the transportation system based on how many miles they drive."

They would pay a fee per mile and get a refund of the state's current 24-cent-a-gallon gasoline tax. Critics had worried that the technology could be used to track where vehicles go, not just how far they travel, and that this information could be stored by the government.

ODOT says this is not in their plans.