Montana House panel advances electric, hybrid vehicle fees

A bill moving through the Montana House would supplement transportation funding via electric and hybrid vehicles.

Popularity for such vehicles in Montana and elsewhere is expected to grow in the coming decades. As a result, state officials around the country are pursuing avenues to make sure they will be able to capture needed transportation revenue from owners of fuel-efficient vehicles.

In Montana, the House Transportation Committee voted unanimously to advance a bill to tap electric and hybrid vehicles to help cover costs for road upkeep and construction.

Previous effort vetoed

In 2021, the Legislature approved a bill to implement a new annual fee on all-electric vehicles registered in the state. A fee on hybrid vehicles was not included.

Gov. Greg Gianforte vetoed the bill, citing the annual fee amounts for light vehicles and heavy trucks.

Light vehicle fee amounts would have been $195. Heavy truck fee amounts were slated to be $375.

“While I support the intent of the bill to require electric vehicle owners to pay what is essentially a user fee into the state’s highway trust fund, as do other vehicle owners that consume gasoline, HB188 would establish some of the highest fees in the nation,” Gianforte wrote in his veto message.

The governor added that the vehicle fee would be in addition to the personal property registration fee paid annually by electric vehicle owners.

Revised pursuit

Rep. Denley Loge, R-St. Regis, said the revised legislation is a good compromise.

His bill, HB60, would tap electric and hybrid vehicles to help cover costs for road upkeep and construction.

Specifically, electric vehicles under 6,000 pounds would be charged $130. Affected vehicles between 6,000 pounds and 26,000 pounds would be charged $190 and $340. Electric trucks in excess of 26,000 pounds would pay $1,100 annually.

The fee amounts for hybrid vehicles would range from $70 for vehicles under 6,000 pounds to $700 for vehicles in excess of 26,000 pounds.

“The intent of this bill is to try to find some way to get some road-use fees out of the electric vehicles,” Loge told committee members. “There is no way to get a road-use fee from electric vehicles in the gas tax.”

“What this bill does is creates a mechanism to collect some funds that will go directly into the gas tax fund.”

A report from the Montana Legislative Services Division shows there were 1,893 plug-in electric vehicles registered in the state as of Jan. 1, 2022. There were 1,002 plug-in hybrid vehicles registered.

The Governor’s Office of Budget and Program Planning estimates vehicles covered in the legislation will increase by 30% annually.

The proposed fees are estimated to raise $444,00 annually by fiscal year 2025.

HB60 awaits a final House floor vote for passage to the Senate. LL

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