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Oregon Prepares To Roll Out Voluntary Pay-By-The-Mile Tax

File photo. As cars get better gas mileage, Oregon will experiment with a pay-by-the-mile tax.
Portland Development Commission
File photo. As cars get better gas mileage, Oregon will experiment with a pay-by-the-mile tax.

Oregon is looking for volunteers for a new pay-by-the-mile tax.

The state will enroll up to 5,000 drivers starting July 1 for a first-of-its-kind program. Users would pay a 1.5 cents per mile tax instead of the state gas tax.

Tom Fuller with the Oregon Department of Transportation says it's part of a long-term plan to beef up the state's highway fund.

"Cars are getting better gas mileage. We're having hybrids and electric cars,” he said. “They're not paying much at all in the gas tax that helps make Oregon's roads safe and efficient."

If the program proves successful, lawmakers could expand it.

Drivers would not pay for miles traveled outside of Oregon. Miles would be tracked by a device that attaches to the car’s on-board computer.

Copyright 2015 Northwest News Network

Chris Lehman graduated from Temple University with a journalism degree in 1997. He landed his first job less than a month later, producing arts stories for Red River Public Radio in Shreveport, Louisiana. Three years later he headed north to DeKalb, Illinois, where he worked as a reporter and announcer for NPR–affiliate WNIJ–FM. In 2006 he headed west to become the Salem Correspondent for the Northwest News Network.