11/8/04-On Election Day, Alabama voters resoundingly defeated an attempt to change how commercial trucks and truck trailers are taxed in their state.
A proposed amendment to the state constitution asked to alter taxation on commercial vehicles from a property tax to an apportioned excise tax. It was said to level the playing field for Alabama trucking companies against out-of-state competition.
Currently, vehicles weighing more than 26,000 pounds registered in the state are subject to property tax in the same way cars and trucks owned by individuals are.
Amendment 8 sought to change that, imposing a fee system where both in-state and out-of-state trucks would be taxed based on the percentage of miles traveled in the state. Alabama-based trucks would have paid less under the plan.
It also would have allowed for a one-time $60 fee for a permanent trailer tag, instead of the yearly $20 renewals required now, and the elimination of the property tax on trailers.
Trucks and trailers used by farmers and the forestry industry would have been exempted from the change, and continued to pay property tax.
The amendment failed statewide 69 percent to 31 percent.