Ashland tidings. [volume] (Ashland, Or.) 1876-1919, 1917-01-01
Would Tax Gas
To Build Roads


for road improvement very small.
Other feasible means of raising road
money this year in order that avail
able federal funds may be obtained,
the federal money being available in
an equal amount to that furnished
by the state, are being sought. Rails
ing the automobile license has many
advocates, and now comes L. S. Bean,
representative elect from Lane coun-
ty, with proposition to tax gasoline
which is meeting with much APPROX
al. The automobile owners of the
state in the main recognize the fact
that COOL roads are to their interest,
the tire saving alone more than max
ing up for their share of the cost of
roads. Different views are held re-
garding the ways and means of tax
alton, but at any rate all sides are
well worth hearing. Mr.. Bean ex-
plains his plan as follows in the Eu-
gene Register 1t will be brought up
before the legislature by him if not
included in some other bill:
"a tax upon gasoline and oil con-
sumed 1t seems to me-" says Mr..
Bean, is very equitable way in
which to grade the automobile tax
according to the wear that the vehi-
Gle puts upon the highway. The larg-
er the car, the harder wear ii gives
the road and the more gasoline 1t
consumes in operation. Therefore,
it will contribute more for the road
fund than does the light car. A car
run all the time wears the roads
more than does a car run intermit-
tently, and it will contribute more
to the road funds. Tourists, who
now pay no tax in Oregon, by pur-
chasing gasoline here on which tax
is paid will contribute to the Oregon
road funds.
by reason of law passed four
years ago, requiring gasoline sold in
Oregon to be of a certain specific
gravity, Oregon users of gasoline are
now paying one to two cents a gal
lon more than are the users in Wash
ington or in California. Automobiles
have been perfected until now 1t is
not necessary to require such high
grade of gasoline, and by repeating
this law 1t would be possible to levy
tax of one or two cents a gallon
on gasoline and still not raise the
price above what the users are now
paying for it.
1T is my idea that this tax should
be collected from the five or six oil
companies doing business in the
state, and the price added in the
wholesale price of the oil. 1t would
be too difficult to attempt to collect
such tax from the thousands of
small retailers selling gasoline, and
the same results could be obtained
by collecting the tax from the whole
salers.
Just how much such a tax would
raise ] am not prepared to say, but
] believe it would be very substan-
tial amount. Under the laws as they
now stand 1t would be difficult to in
crease the millage levy for road pur-
poses in the state, and it would be
almost impossible to increase the
state tax on automobiles, for as soon
as the license fec became more than
a regulatory one 1t would become
double taxation and therefore un-
constitutional
THE plan is not entirely original
with me. 1t was suggested to some
of the good roads advocates and they
have been talking 1t over. l do not
know whether the idea will be pre-
sented to the legislature in any of
the road programs, but if it is not
! shall probably bring it up myself.
In the meantime l am going thor
oughly into the subject to see what
objections there might be raised to
it,"
Mr.. Been has been giving the sub
ject of road legislation considerable
study. He believes that one solution
of the road question would be the
adoption of general plan under
which certain main highways of the
state should be taken over and main
taine das state highways. Then,
within the several counties, other
roads, less important than the state
highways, yet important for com
munication between the larger points
of the county, should be designated
as county highways, maintained by
the county. The remaining roads,
which would be local in their char
acter, should be maintained by the
road districts from the road district
funds.