Defunct
The Voluntary Gas Tax project operated from 2001 to 2006. In 2007 we shut down the project. We've left the old web pages posted here just for the historical record.
If you would like to contact me about this site, my e-mail address is posted on my homepage.
Every year, members receive email asking them to vote on various issues, including the tax rate for the next year and which charities should receive donations that year. Members who have paid at least the minimum tax of $25 for that year then have their votes counted.
The new tax rate is set at the average of the median 80% of suggested rates, rounded to the nearest nickel. This is an attempt to get the sense of the group while discarding suggestions that are extreme. (If one person votes for a rate of a thousand dollars per gallon, we don't want that one vote to end up single-handedly having an disproportionate effect on the outcome.)
Votes for charities can be distributed with arbitrary weight to any approved charity. One person could vote 10% for one group, and 90% for another. These weights are averaged for all voters, giving a ratio between charities. 100% of donations for that year are then distributed according to that final ratio. We give the vote of people who drive very little the same weight as people who drive a lot.
For a history of voting results, see our Excel spreadsheet which includes voting details.