Oregon Trucking Association Sues State Over Highway Taxes

Oregon, in its state constitution, says that to fund road repair, the state has the power to tax vehicles based fairly and proportionally on how much damage each one slowly but surely chips away at the road’s health, namely, the weight of the vehicle. For passenger vehicles, this is limited to a fuel tax, while heavy trucks pay a weight-mile tax. Things were going well at first, but the Oregon Trucking Association (OTA) now claims that truckers and fleets are paying more than they owe.

Details

The Oregon Department of Administrative Services checks every two years to see if the current pay rates for the various types of tax-paying vehicles are equitable. OTA argues that the previous three checks have shown a disproportionate rate for heavy trucks:

• 2019-2021: heavy vehicle users overpaid by approximately 3%.
• 2021-2023: 16% overpay.
• 2023-2025: had heavy vehicles overpaying by 32%. 

If these numbers are to be believed, then not only are commercial vehicles paying more than they owe due to their wear and tear on the road, but the amount by which they overpay is increasing.

“For too long, Oregon trucking companies, the vast majority of which are small, family-owned businesses, have paid far more than their fair share of transportation taxes,” OTA President Jana Jarvis said in a statement. “By 2025, the trucking industry is expected to have overpaid by half a billion dollars. Trucking companies in Oregon simply cannot sustain paying the highest transportation taxes of any state in the country any longer.”

Conclusion

What will be interesting to see is, if this lawsuit is ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, whether or not the state will be required to pay back the overages to the truckers. It reminds us of a case regarding toll roads in Rhode Island, where the Ocean State had to cease charging new tolls but was allowed to keep what was already collected. If the same scenario plays out in Oregon, truck companies could be out hundreds of millions of dollars before the dispute reaches its conclusion. We hope for a speedy case.

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