The city of Corvallis is going to make some money off your cell phone, and it doesn’t sound like we have much say in it. The reason for the tax is that many people simply no longer have a landline telephone, and that means the more the old-fashioned utility shrinks, the less city tax revenue is available.

Shifting taxes to follow technological changes is nothing new for agencies and governments. The Oregon Department of Transportation is going to start charging a road tax based on miles driven instead of gasoline consumed, and the public won’t have much to say about it, either; new cars simply will be equipped with the mileage monitoring devices in a few years.

The city contends that the new 5 percent cell phone tax is simply part of leveling the playing field among telecommunications providers to 5 percent, rather than the 7 percent now paid by some. This new tax offers an opportunity to bring all telecommunications in line with the 5 percent utility fee paid by all other utilities.

The quibble we have is that utility franchise taxes had some city justification because the city maintained the roads that led to the power poles that held the telephone lines. But cell towers are far fewer and located primarily on private property not along city right-of-way.

Discussing the proposal last week, Mayor Helen Berg did not attempt to suggest that the city is “earning” the cell phone fee. She was characteristically frank, stating flatly, “This is a tax.” She noted that franchise taxes are historically a primary means by which cities fund government.

The fact that technology moves away from that traditional relationship (or in this case, from a landline phone to cell phones) doesn’t mean that the city’s revenue needs go away.

So, it’s tradition.

It also is a tax that will not go away, even if its initial designated use is to purchase a new training tower for the fire department because the 40-year-old tower they now use is in the way of some new water purification tanks. Apparently using the stairs at Reser Stadium or some other building (such as the fire stairs at Oregon State University’s Kerr Administration Building, which already resemble a fire tower) is not an option, due to some insurance regulations.

The city also wants to buy new rolling stock for the fire department. Most people are reluctant to deny anything to the agency that protects life and property, but there is no obvious connection between this tax and what the money would be spent on.

We’re hoping that the city gets more people involved in this by posting its list of “frequently asked questions” about the proposal on its Web site soon and that citizens read them with a critical eye.

The city has fast-tracked this proposal, with implementation scheduled for July. City officials have scheduled three meetings where the public will be able to comment, but they know that nobody wants to pay more and they can implement this tax without public approval. It will simply be worked out between cell phone providers and the city.

Although the cell phone companies initially will pay, of course that expense will be passed along to us. As with the mileage tax that ODOT soon will exact, our only role will be to pay.