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Committee updates mileage‑based user fee language; defers collection mechanics amid funding uncertainty
Summary
Agency drafters revised mileage‑based user fee language to reflect funding uncertainty, a $350,000 design appropriation and a shift in how electric‑vehicle infrastructure fees are described. The committee heard technical questions about collecting fees from out‑of‑state vehicles and directed staff to refine the draft.
Agency staff presented updated language on Thursday to the transportation committee to reflect the current status of the mileage‑based user fee program and to acknowledge uncertainty in federal funding for implementation.
The draft removes a prior 2025 start date in favor of wording that conditions implementation on "sufficient funding being available for implementation." The drafters also replaced a prior registration surcharge concept with an "electric vehicle infrastructure fee" and removed a placeholder of "to be determined" for the mileage‑based design, noting an actual appropriation of $350,000 for fiscal year 2025. The draft shifts the reporting period to vehicle registration renewal and establishes a rule for missing odometer readings: if no odometer reading is available for the mileage reporting period, the agency would multiply by the 90th percentile of estimated annual vehicle miles traveled for a Vermont pleasure car as the assumed mileage.
An agency speaker answered concerns about fairness for out‑of‑state electric vehicles. The speaker said technology can enable fee collection at the point of charging; "you can apply a fee at the point of charging ... we would collect a fee through the company who owns the charging station." The staffer also noted that, under current gas‑tax payments, about 26% of gas‑tax revenue comes from out‑of‑state vehicles, and the agency plans phased work to capture similar contributions for electric vehicles and to participate in regional pilots that allocate revenue across jurisdictions for multi‑state travel (timecode: 3037.825).
Committee members asked staff to return a refined draft that reflects the funding contingency language and clarifies procurement and procurement timing, odometer‑reporting rules, and the proposed method for estimating mileage when readings are missing. The committee did not adopt implementation mechanics for collecting from out‑of‑state vehicles during this session; members agreed further technical work and possible regional cooperation will be required before final policy decisions.
