Committee advances proposal for 5¢/kWh public charging tax; MnDOT and fiscal notes flag limited near‑term yield

Senator Lyndsay Johnson Stewart presented Senate File 2092 on March 26, 2025, proposing a 5¢ per kilowatt‑hour tax on public electric vehicle charging. The bill would direct revenue to the Highway User Tax Distribution Fund and explicitly exempt home charging.

Nut graf: Proponents cast the per‑kWh charge as a way to collect revenue from nonresident drivers and public‑charging users; state fiscal and transportation staff cautioned that because an estimated 80% of charging occurs at private residences and many existing public chargers are exempt under the bill language, near‑term revenue capture could be small.

The bill was amended (A‑1) to ensure revenue deposits to the Highway User Tax Distribution Fund. MnDOT and Department of Revenue staff provided fiscal observations: MnDOT estimated a per‑driver annual equivalent of roughly $47.85 if 20% of charging were taxable and multiplied by registered EVs would be roughly $2.2 million, but the estimate also noted that most public charging currently in Minnesota is exempt under the bill, potentially making the initial revenue negligible. The Department of Revenue portion of the fiscal note cited an estimated 0.5 FTE (about $83,000 annually) to administer a new tax.

Committee members asked whether existing public chargers could be reprogrammed to collect the tax; some members suggested that owners of public chargers could adjust pricing to collect and remit the tax without significant new hardware. Senator Johnson Stewart said the administration cost and home‑charging exemption were reasons the kWh approach captures some, but not the majority, of charging activity.

Senator Johnson Stewart moved SF2092, as amended, to the Taxes Committee without recommendation; the motion carried by voice vote.

Ending: The Taxes Committee will evaluate revenue estimates and the Department of Revenue will likely model implementation costs and yield.