The Road User Fee Task Force (RUFTF) was formed by the State Legislature in 2001 to develop a revenue collection system to fund Oregon’s roads and highways in light of a projected decline in fuels tax revenues. The task force has new membership and leadership, and is gearing up for another per-mile road usage charge proposal in the 2023 Legislative Session. Umatilla County Commissioner Dan Dorran was recently appointed to the county seat on the RUFTF and brings a diverse experience and the perspective of a growing, eastern Oregon major-freight corridor county.
The RUFTF was instrumental in the creation of Oregon’s first in the nation per-mile road usage charge pilot program in 2015, OreGo. Oregon has a long history supporting the “user pays” principle for transportation system funding, with the nation’s first gas tax and the weight-mile tax, which requires heavy freight trucks to pay their fair share for use and wear and tear of our infrastructure.
Now, almost ten years since the inception of the OreGo pilot program, we know Oregon must modernize the way we fund transportation infrastructure. A projected 47 percent decrease in gasoline consumption by 2035 threatens the solubility of the largely fuel tax-dependent State Highway Fund in the very near future. This structural deficit in the State Highway Fund coupled with limited local funding options and dwindling federal funds and timber receipts over the last two decades poses a real threat to county budgets and infrastructure.
Oregon counties are responsible for the largest share of Oregon’s road system (41 percent), with over 32,000 miles of road, and over 3,400 bridges. From Multnomah County to Wheeler County, urban streets to county forest roads, farm-to-market, rural and suburban residential communities, scenic bikeways and multimodal paths—county governments are responsible for the most diverse network of local streets, arterials, and collectors that connect people and support our economy.
Given the vast transportation network owned and maintained by counties, it is critical that the Association of Oregon Counties (AOC) and the Oregon Association of County Engineers and Surveyors (OACES) be at the forefront of transportation system funding modernization conversations. The AOC County Road Program and OACES will continue to work with the AOC Transportation and Community Development Steering Committee to study opportunities and challenges of a per-mile road usage fee. AOC and OACES are working to develop guiding principles to help create a sustainable revenue program that is transparent, ensures equity for rural Oregonians and low income households, keeps administrative costs low, and protects public privacy.
Contributed by: Mallorie Roberts | Legislative Director