(begin rant) First question would be - how do you file a class action suit against the government (state or otherwise)? Second - do you think that a CAL would stand a chance of winning? Taxes are a fact of life, and with governments at all levels running short on funds, they're constantly looking for ways to drum up revenue (you know, instead of finding ways to spend less which to me would make more sense). South Carolina, for example, cannot even come together long enough to pass a 12¢ gas tax increase without tons of bickering, and enough concessions to effectively negate any monetary gains from the increase (which would be phased in over 6 years at 2¢/year, on top of the country's already lowest gas prices...). However, one of the hidden (or at least less publicly mentioned) options is to tack on a fee to hybrids and EVs. No clue what it will be, but knowing the legislature here, it will be ridiculously disproportionate to what they feel we aren't paying in gas taxes. On top of that, we pay a value based tax annually. That tax is very subjective. Case in point, '13 Chevy Silverado LT that stickered for about $42k was taxed at about $660 the first year. A '13 Chevy Volt base, that stickered at the time for $40k was taxed at $1050 for the first year. What method of new math was used to come up with those figures? What was worse, for me at least, was that there was no method for reporting actual gas consumption. Because I couldn't charge my Gen1 Volt, I ran around using a mixture of mountain mode and hold mode to self-charge the battery (yes, aware that it was incredibly inefficient), resulting in a combined mileage of about 35mpg. A little unfair given that there are non-hybrids getting better mileage and aren't subject to the same level of taxation. Then again, the red belt has always had it in for any sort of change so I guess I shouldn't be surprised by the hybrid hate. (end rant)
