Transportation agency: Don’t levy fees on electric vehicles

MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) - Vermont transportation officials say state lawmakers should hold off on imposing electric vehicle fees.

Lawmakers asked the state Agency of Transportation to come up with suggestions for electric vehicle fees as the state grapples with declining gas tax revenues.

The Rutland Herald reports (https://bit.ly/2iyca1v ) the transportation agency says in a new report that imposing such fees runs counter to efforts to encourage people to buy and use electric vehicles.

The report says lawmakers should refrain from levying the fees until more people are driving electric vehicles.

It says lawmakers should consider instituting the fee if the state can’t address the declining gas tax revenue through other means, and only if electric vehicles make up at least 15 percent of auto sales.

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Information from: Rutland Herald, https://www.rutlandherald.com/