SF 2107 (LSB 5531XS (4) 88)

SENATE FILE 2107

BY  MATHIS

A BILL FOR

An Act establishing a motor vehicle mileage tax pilot program.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  MOTOR VEHICLE MILEAGE TAX PILOT PROGRAM.
   1.  The department of transportation, in coordination with the department of revenue, shall establish a motor vehicle mileage tax pilot program for purposes of evaluating the feasibility of imposing and collecting a tax on the miles traveled annually by motor vehicles on the highways of this state as an alternative to the motor fuel and special fuel taxes imposed under chapter 452A.
   2.  a.  The department of transportation, in coordination with the department of revenue, shall develop, implement, and administer the pilot program. Under the program, the department of revenue shall assess participating owners of motor vehicles a mileage tax that is based on the number of miles traveled on highways of this state by those motor vehicles.
   b.  The pilot program shall include at least one thousand volunteers who are residents of this state and are representative of the drivers of motor vehicles operated on the highways of this state, including but not limited to motor vehicles which operate on alternative fuels such as ethanol blended gasoline, biodiesel blended fuel, compressed natural gas, electricity, or hydrogen. The department of transportation or a volunteer may terminate the volunteer’s participation in the program at any time.
   c.  The department of transportation shall be responsible for selecting and installing equipment capable of measuring and reporting vehicle mileage in the motor vehicles owned by the participating volunteers. The equipment selected by the department shall have global positioning capabilities. 
   3.  The pilot program shall test the reliability, ease of use, cost, public acceptance, and potential for evasion of the technologies and methods used by the department of transportation and department of revenue in implementing the pilot program, including for all of the following:
   a.  Counting the number of miles traveled by the volunteers’ vehicles.
   b.  Reporting the number of miles traveled by the volunteers’ vehicles.
   c.  Collecting or receiving payments from the volunteers.
   4.  The department of transportation, in coordination with the department of revenue, shall analyze and evaluate the technologies and methods, as described in subsection 3, to do all of the following:
   a.  Protect the integrity of data collected and reported.
   b.  Ensure participating volunteers’ privacy. 
   c.  Increase or decrease the amount of the tax based on the time of driving, type of road, proximity to transit, vehicle fuel efficiency, participation in vehicle sharing, and income of the participating volunteer.
   5.  The pilot program shall last at least one year but not more than three years. The pilot program shall commence on or before January 1, 2021.
   6.  The department of transportation, in coordination with the department of revenue, shall refund applicable motor fuel and special fuel taxes paid by the volunteers pursuant to chapter 452A or otherwise compensate volunteers to ensure that volunteers are not required to pay more under the program than they would have by not participating in the program. This subsection applies to all volunteers of the pilot program, including those volunteers whose participation ended prior to the termination of the program. 
   7.  The department of transportation, in coordination with the department of revenue, shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 17A necessary for the implementation of the pilot program, including but not limited to rules establishing the process for selecting volunteers, the methods for collecting the mileage tax from the volunteers, mileage reporting requirements for the volunteers, and the process for refunding motor fuel and special fuel taxes paid by the volunteers pursuant to chapter 452A.
   8.  The department of transportation, in coordination with the department of revenue, shall report to the general assembly the results of the pilot program, including the feasibility of permanently assessing a motor vehicle mileage tax; an evaluation of the impacts of such a tax on the economy, the environment, and traffic congestion; a comparison to other potential alternatives or supplements to the fuel taxes assessed pursuant to chapter 452A; and any recommendations. The report required by this subsection shall be submitted to the general assembly no later than six months after the completion of the pilot program.
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   This bill requires the department of transportation (DOT), in coordination with the department of revenue (DOR), to establish a motor vehicle mileage tax pilot program for purposes of evaluating the feasibility of imposing and collecting a tax on the miles traveled annually by motor vehicles on the highways of this state as a potential alternative to the motor fuel and special fuel taxes imposed under Code chapter 452A. The DOT, in coordination with the DOR, is required to develop, implement, and administer the pilot program. Under the pilot program, the DOR is required to assess participating owners of motor vehicles a mileage tax that is based on the number of miles traveled on highways of this state by those motor vehicles. The pilot program shall include at least 1,000 volunteers. The DOT or a volunteer may terminate the volunteer’s participation in the program at any time. The DOT is responsible for selecting and installing equipment capable of measuring and reporting vehicle mileage in the motor vehicles owned by the participating volunteers.
   The pilot program is required to test the reliability, ease of use, cost, public acceptance, and potential for evasion of the technology and the methods used by the DOT and the DOR. The DOT, in coordination with the DOR, is required to analyze and evaluate the technologies and methods used in the pilot program to protect the integrity of the data collected and reported, ensure the participating volunteers’ privacy, and increase or decrease the amount of the tax based on certain factors.
   The pilot program is required to last at least one year, but not more than three years, and must commence on or before January 1, 2021.
   The DOT, in coordination with the DOR, is required to refund motor fuel and special fuel taxes paid by the volunteers pursuant to Code chapter 452A or otherwise compensate volunteers to ensure that they are not required to pay more under the program than they would have by not participating in the program. 
   The DOT, in coordination with the DOR, is required to report to the general assembly the results of the pilot program no later than six months after the completion of the pilot program.