Jake: What if the pay-by-mile tax is really about speeding tickets?

Washington is considering a new pay-by-mile tax that my former boss and dear friend, Dori Monson, warned us about years ago.

At the time, lawmakers were just implementing the toll lanes on 405 and 167 (we’ve all seen how that turned out), and Dori was smart enough to realize that once they got a taste of your sweet, sweet toll lane cash, they’d be hungry for more.

The Road Usage Charge (RUC), if adopted, would charge you 2.6 cents per mile you drive throughout the year. There’s some fuzzy math required to decipher how much of the gas tax you’re already paying every time you fill up would be credited to your end-of-year bill for the RUC, but at the very least, like everything in government, it sounds overly complicated and likely means more from your pocket.

More details: WA eyes pay-by-mile system as gas tax revenue declines

A pay-by-mile conspiracy theory

Not to be an alarmist but let me inject another possible conspiracy theory into the mix: How are they going to accurately monitor the miles we’re driving for the RUC? What happens if I drive out of state? Am I paying for those miles as well? Are they going to require some sort of transponder in my vehicle to be accurate?

And privacy issues aside, who’s to say what else they might cleverly decide to do with that info?

What’s to stop them from noticing that occasionally I drive above the speed limit (hey, we all do) and issuing me a speeding ticket? Call it a conspiracy theory, but funny how often those come true.

I don’t like anything about this potential new tax and I hope you agree with me.

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