Electric and hybrid vehicle owners in Louisiana will soon be paying a new fee in order to make it fairer for ICE owners, USA Today reports.
According to Republican Baton Rouge Rep. Barbara Freiberg, EV and hybrid owners pay no gasoline taxes or a reduced amount in the case of hybrids and therefore have been getting a “free ride” on publicly owned roads and bridges. “I think it’s only fair everyone who uses our roads pays something,” Freiberg said.
Freiberg put forth House Bill 1031 which won final passage in the Legislature on Sunday and will ensure that electric vehicle and hybrid owners pay their fair share of road taxes.
All-electric vehicle owners will be charged an annual fee of $110, while the fee will be $60 for hybrid owners. Seventy percent of the revenue collected from the fees will go toward the upkeep of state roads and bridges, while 30 percent would go to local roads and bridges.
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20 cents per gallon are collected as part of the state gasoline tax, which goes toward the maintenance of existing roads and bridges. The amount of gas taxes that the average driver of gasoline-powered engines pays varies by the make, model, and number of miles driven, but in Louisiana, that number is $148 per year on average.
The bill required a two-thirds vote for passage in both the House and Senate since it institutes a new fee. Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards is expected to sign the bill into law, and his Transportation Secretary Shawn Wilson testified in favor of the legislation.
“This intent is to establish the principle of paying a fair share,” Wilson said. Taxes or fees on EVs and hybrids have already been imposed in thirty states so far, and Freiberg says that Louisiana’s fees are “in line or lower than surrounding states.”
Owners will begin paying the fees through their income tax form starting in 2023, and the state will rely on voluntary compliance to report the tax.
