Mississippi owners of hybrid and electric vehicles received a surprise letter dated Oct. 1, 2018. The letter, consisting of four sentences, informed the subject vehicle owners that a selective tax has been imposed on hybrid and all-electric vehicles effective immediately with new purchase or renewal of license plates. No reason or justification for the new tax was given.

Stated succinctly, Mississippi has done it again — punished good and positive behavior to retain its tarnished last place image. The tax selectively imposed on the owners of hybrid and all-electric vehicles is annually $75 on hybrid vehicles and $150 on all electric vehicles. The tax was enacted by an extraordinary session of the Mississippi Legislature. The publicly stated logic (confirmed by direct conversation with a local state Senator) was since hybrid-electric vehicles use less gas that they needed to be penalized in order to contribute more to road upkeep. It doesn’t take an economist to understand the stupidity and foolishness of this logic. Even if the added funds actually make it to infrastructure repair, the amount might fix 10-20 potholes or pave a mile of road

Most states reward hybrid and electric vehicle ownership. Arizona, for example, offers numerous incentives for hybrid, all electric, and alternative fuel vehicles, e.g., state tax credit, preferred parking, automatic qualification for HOV lanes, and even tax credits for home charger modification costs. It’s relatively easy, even for Mississippi state legislators, to search for the many states that offer incentives for hybrid-electric vehicles. However, Mississippi in its typical backward fashion chooses to penalize owners of energy efficient vehicles. I’m not sure how this selective tax idea came about, but it comes in a year when a lottery, sports betting and other worthy bills were passed. I certainly don’t know if issues such as air pollution, alternative energy vs. oil and gas, or climate change entered the “debate” if there was any, but it isn’t hard to imagine that they might have.

Dwain Butler

Vicksburg