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The May 17 ballot for Portland voters will ask them whether to approve a 10-cent gas tax to pay for repairs and maintenance of city streets. But left out of the equation is how to charge the diesel fuel users 鈥� a hole the City Council is now looking to shore up.

The problem revolves around one fact: Portland has only one truck stop company, Jubitz, and it’s believed that if Portland taxed diesel at the point of sale, heavy truck drivers would avoid filling up at Jubitz once they learned of the tax.

Groups opposed to the gas tax have argued that by omitting diesel, the city is leaving millions of dollars in revenue on the table.

鈥淚t’s important to let Portland voters know that we are not letting heavy trucks off the hook,鈥� Novick said at Wednesday’s council meeting.

Ultimately, the hearing was placed on hold until next week, when the diesel tax ordinance will be given a second reading and City Council may choose to give final approval. Two amendments were passed Wednesday; the first requires the Portland Bureau of Transportation and Bureau of Revenue to return before City Council in August with options for an appeals process. The second directs the same bureaus to return before the council after all heavy trucks are fitted with GPS devices 鈥� a national move expected to come in the next few years.

Representatives of the freight industry complained at Wednesday’s meeting that the tax is unfair. It would charge 2.8 percent of a company’s weight-mile tax charged by the state. Big companies that only minimally use Portland city streets would still be hit with large charges.

鈥淐urrently, trucks already pay for the wear and tear on the roads, and that’s the weight and mile tax,鈥� said Pia Welch, a project engineering specialist at FedEx Express and a member of the Portland Freight Committee.

PBOT has figured that around $18 million per year is needed to address the critical condition of city streets. The cost responsibility for diesel users has been figured to be around 13 percent, based primarily on miles driven in city limits. Assuming that the gas tax is approved by voters, drivers of light vehicles would pay 86.7 percent of the needed amount through the gas tax ($16 million per year), and drivers of diesel vehicles would pay about $2.5 million per year.

Both the gas and diesel taxes would be temporary, and sunset after four years.

Portland is the freight hub of the Pacific Northwest, and the need for modern infrastructure is greater now than ever before, said Robert McCullough, a board member of the Southeast Uplift Neighborhood Coalition.

鈥淭he equity issue is not perfect, but it’s about as fair as it’s going to get,鈥� he said. 鈥淭here is no perfect answer to the equity question. Frankly, if it were up to me, I’d ask for higher taxes for both cars and trucks because we have a big problem in front of us.鈥�

The tax will be calculated based on a company’s statewide weight-mile taxes. An estimated rate of 2.8 percent would generate that amount.

PBOT estimates 85 percent of businesses would pay an average of $15 per month. But a smaller number of businesses accounting for far more heavy truck activity would pay an average of $500 per month.

The heavy vehicle use tax would apply to businesses that have a Portland business license and also pay the state weight-mile tax.

Other taxes were considered by the city’s Transportation Needs and Funding Advisory Committee. The group sought to charge only businesses that conduct some business in Portland, and not businesses that merely pass through, said Novick, who oversees PBOT.

鈥淚 think that it is very important for us to pass this legislation immediately,鈥� he said.