ATLANTA – The Georgia Department of Transportation (DOT) is about to launch an experiment with a different form of transportation tax designed to capture revenue from drivers of electric vehicles.
The agency is looking for 150 volunteers to take part in a federally funded pilot project that will replace gasoline and other motor fuels taxes with a tax based on the number of miles driven. Two states – Oregon, and Utah – already have adopted mileage-based user fees, while at least four others are doing pilot projects to test the concept.
“I’m glad we’re part of this,” Georgia Commissioner of Transportation Russell McMurry told members of the State Transportation Board July 19.
“I don’t think we have a choice,” board member Cathy Williams added. “We’re going to have to go to a mileage-based system.”
As Georgia motorists increasingly switch from gasoline-powered cars and trucks to hybrids and EVs, the amount of tax revenue available for building roads and highways dwindles. Technological improvements that are yielding higher gas mileage in cars with internal-combustion engines also are putting a dent in transportation tax collections.
A legislative study committee formed last year to look for ways to accommodate an expected increase in electric vehicles plying Georgia highways recommended making any future mileage-based tax the state adopts comparable to what drivers of gasoline-powered vehicles pay in fuel taxes.
That equity issue came to the forefront earlier this year as the General Assembly debated and subsequently passed a bill imposing an excise tax of 2.84 cents per kilowatt hour on electricity used to power EVs starting in 2025.
Electric vehicle owners and other advocates of EV technology complained that the new excise tax -combined with a $216 annual registration fee EV owners already are paying and the state sales tax on purchases of electricity – amounted to triple taxation.
“I’m thrilled the DOT is doing this pilot project,” said Anne Blair, Atlanta-based senior director of policy for the Electrification Coalition, a nonpartisan nonprofit working for the widespread adoption of electric vehicles. “Maybe we can get to something that’s more equitable to more drivers.”
Josh Waller, director of policy and government affairs for the DOT, said the agency will spend the next several months signing up volunteers for the pilot project. He said the four-month pilot will begin late this year and include a survey of the volunteers to gauge how they compare paying a mileage-based fee to the costs of gasoline.
“It’s really about the experience for the user of the mileage-based approach,” he said.
Waller said the test period will be followed during the first half of 2024 by a preliminary analysis of the results. A final report is expected later in the year.
Waller said the pilot project will include both GPS and non-GPS options to keep track of the miles the volunteers drive. The GPS option will determine how many miles a volunteer drives inside of Georgia compared to outside of the state, which is important for taxing purposes.
“Participants will choose what works best for them,” Waller said.
The idea of tracking where people are driving has raised privacy concerns. But Waller said worries about privacy have become essentially moot with the advent of cellphone technology.
“Our cellphones are going with us anywhere,” he said. “There are a lot of pieces of information we’re giving away.”
Nonetheless, Waller said the pilot project will include safeguards to protect the privacy of the drivers.
Waller said he doesn’t expect the various pilot projects states are conducting to lead to widespread adoption of mileage-based user fees anytime soon.
“This is a major change in how you fund transportation,” he said. “[The pilot projects] are really to understand how people react with it. … At this point, we’re still in the educational phase.”
“Every state is different,” McMurry added. “We’ll learn things that are unique to Georgia.”
ATLANTA – Georgia Power has completed a major step toward bringing the second of two nuclear reactors being built at Plant Vogtle into operation even as the first new unit is set to open this month.
Southern Nuclear, like Georgia Power a subsidiary of Atlanta-based Southern Co., has submitted all 364 inspections, tests, and analyses that have been performed on the second unit to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), Georgia Power reported Friday. The step is designed to assure the NRC that the reactor meets all nuclear safety and quality standards.
Once the NRC declares that Southern Nuclear has met all license acceptance criteria, fuel loading can begin.
The second unit is scheduled to begin operating late this year or early next year.
Meanwhile, Georgia Power spokesman John Kraft said the first unit remains on schedule to go into service by the end of this month.
The two reactors originally were expected to be in operation in 2016 and 2017. However, the Plant Vogtle nuclear expansion ran into a series of delays that drove up the cost to more than twice the $14 billion estimated at the time the Georgia Public Service Commission approved the project more than a decade ago.
Critics have long maintained Georgia Power should have given up on the nuclear reactors and more aggressively pursued other sources of electrical generation.
Georgia Power officials have countered that nuclear power is the most efficient way to ensure the utility’s 2.7 million customers will enjoy reliable energy for the next 60 to 80 years. The company is building the new reactors in partnership with co-owners Oglethorpe Power, MEAG Power and Dalton Utilities.
ATLANTA – The Georgia Department of Transportation (DOT) is posting new weight restrictions on more than 700 bridges across the state to comply with legislation the General Assembly passed this year allowing higher truck weights.
House Bill 189, which Gov. Brian Kemp signed in May, lets some commercial trucks exceed the previous legal weight limit of 80,000 pounds by 10% on roads other than federal highways, which are subject to federal limits.
The 10% exemption letting trucks run with up to 88,000 pounds of cargo applies only to trucks hauling agricultural products – including livestock – and logs. However, the exemption does not apply in the 13-county Atlanta region.
The bill, which passed over the objections of the DOT, has touched off a flurry of activity by the transportation agency to comply with federal deadlines, Andrew Heath, the DOT’s deputy chief engineer, told members of the State Transportation Board this week.
The department must complete a load rating analysis of about 15,000 bridges across Georgia by Aug. 3 and post signs on bridges that lack the carrying capacity to handle the heavier trucks allowed under the new law by Sept. 2, Heath said. Failing to comply would subject the state to losing federal transportation funding, he said.
“We have to do it structure by structure,” Heath said. “It’s a heavy lift. … We have some work to do.”
Heath said 733 additional bridges beyond the 1,363 already posted before the adoption of House Bill 189 will have to post signs warning drivers of overweight trucks not to cross. The DOT is working to develop a map to guide the state Department of Public Safety in rerouting overweight trucks.
The work will require 1,500 new signs, Heath said. The agency has completed more than 250 thus far, he said.
Health said the DOT is on track to meet both the August and September deadlines.
ATLANTA – Georgia’s unemployment rate was unchanged last month at 3.2%, while the number of jobs rose to an all-time high, the state Department of Labor reported Thursday.
Unemployment in the Peach State was four-tenths of a point lower than the national jobless rate of 3.6%. The number of jobs increased by 4,400 in June to a record 4.9 million.
“Georgia continues to become an economic powerhouse, attracting leading-edge businesses from around the globe,” state Commissioner of Labor Bruce Thompson said.
“While low unemployment is crucial for a thriving economy, balancing job growth with a skilled workforce capable of meeting the demands of new and existing industries is crucial. This balanced approach will help guarantee that businesses of all sizes have the talent they need to grow, scale, and succeed.”
The job sectors with the most over-the-month gains were accommodation and food services, which added 5,800 jobs; health care and social assistance, which grew by 3,400 jobs; and durable goods manufacturing, which added 2,200 jobs.
The number of employed Georgians also rose by 9,937 last month to 5.3 million, another all-time high.
At the same time, initial jobless claims were down by 2% in June to 23,477. Over the year, first-time unemployment claims fell by 9%.
More than 117,000 job listings were posted online in June. The top five occupations with openings included health care with 22,500; sales with 13,300; business management and operations with 11,700; and hospitality, food, and tourism with 10,800.
ATLANTA – The state Board of Education voted Wednesday to let local school systems reduce the weight of the Georgia Milestones End-of-Course tests from 20% of a student’s final grade to 10%.
The Georgia Milestones tests assess whether students are meeting state standards in four core subject areas: English/language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies.
The Georgia Department of Education temporarily lowered the weight of the tests to 0.01% during the pandemic, citing the disruptions brought on by the need to switch from in-person to online instruction. The 0.01% grade weight was the most the state could water down the tests without running afoul of federal rules.
On Wednesday, supporters said giving school districts the ability to lower the weight of the tests from 20% to 10% is aimed at increasing flexibility for local systems.
“We are not changing the passing score on this test,” said board Vice Chairman Stan DeJarnett, one of nine board members who voted for the proposal. “What we are doing is giving districts flexibility.”
Opponents said lowering the weight of the tests does students a disservice by watering down the state’s graduation requirements.
“This the only chance we have to have [an] apples-to-apples [measure],” said Helen Rice, one of three who voted against the change. “If we drop to 10%, that drops the merit of the test.”
