NY to force all registered car owners to purchase new plates

[ejpoeta]

According to my , which I was watching last night when I caught the tail end of this story:

By April, 2010, new license plates will go out. And when you renew your registration or get a new vehicle you'll be required to get them. And it will cost you more too. The new plates will increase from $15 to $25.

And what could possibly be the reason for requiring us to purchase new plates now?? and at a $10 increase??

There's no word how different the new license plates will be from the current ones. The New York Governor's Budget Office says new plates are needed for public safety matters because many have wear and tear and new ones haven't been issued since 2001. The other reason: money. Next year alone, the budget office says the new plates are expected to bring in $130 million.

I am going to bet that the ONLY reason is to get more money... there is no other reason to do it, whatever they friggin say.

Assemblywoman Crystal Peoples (D-141st District) who did vote for the budget with this in it, explains,

"Well, if you want to know why we need it, you might to ask the governor why he proposed it?" She replied. "There are a lot of things we put in there that we did take out. Like the tax on going to the gym and the bowling alley and the tax on soda pop. So we took out a lot of things and cut a lot of things and in order to take that out we would have had to take out additional, so, government is a balancing act."

So I guess we should just be lucky that they did not tax every damned thing anyone does in this state. And, if I remember correctly, the only reason they removed these taxes from the budget was the enraged voters who went ballistic about it. IT wasn't for our benefit... as if they care about us having to pay MORE for EVERYTHING!!!

I don't mind paying taxes. I expect to pay taxes. But this is ridiculous. And the rich people like Tom Golisano can bitch and moan and move to a state like Florida that has no income taxes to avoid having to pay these taxes. But the rest of us.... it's almost like we are trapped. While we watch our state senate for over a month get paid to act like little children and NOT do their jobs. They sit there and act like insolent children. And they still get paid!! How much money would we have saved for the state were these clowns treated like anyone else with a job who decides they don't want to work with so and so and just don't go.

And to add insult to injury:

The license plates aren't the only changes. Hochul says basic license and registration fees will increase by 25-percent beginning September 1, 2009. That will raise the cost of a basic driver's license in New York from $50 to $62.50. Hochul says those fees too, were a product of this year's budget.

One would be tempted to move out of this state were one able to do it. I love living here. I love the fact that my house is almost paid off. But they wonder why people keep leaving and moving elsewhere. It just feels like they get us from every direction. They'd tax the air if they could get away with it.

Like I said, I pay taxes. We pay property taxes. We pay school taxes. We pay the highest or at least second highest taxes in the country.... and when you are just scraping by, because you didn't get a raise this year and the cost of insurance went up AGAIN... it just gets harder and harder to scrape by.

Ok... i am done now.

[marmar]

1. Desperate states, desperate measures.....

We're in quite the mess.

[ejpoeta]

2. yes we are. yet we are paying $2 million dollars to STUDY the effect of covering

humbolt parkway.... when we could not actually afford to cover humbolt parkway. And then they said that the road repairs they were going to do to the road will be scaled back to basically a patch job to pay for this study. i'm sure the folks that drive that road will be glad to hear that they get to drive on a road that has been patched so that we can study making it into a tunnel.

I can't help but wonder with some of these expenditures.... if they were spending their own money, what would they choose to spend it on???

[LuvNewcastle]

3. We all have to get new license plates

every time they change here in MS. And they change every couple of years or so. They cost quite a bit more down here, too. It's not unheard of for someone to pay $1000 for a car tag -- that's usually for a new car, though, and prices vary greatly according to the age of the car. Your driver's licenses cost quite a bit more than ours, though.

[ejpoeta]

7. they also said if we want to keep our current licence plate number, it will cost

$20 more. I'd hate to be someone with one of those vanity plates or the ones with something on them, like buffalo bills or sabres or whatever. As far as I can see, it's just another way to get MORE money out of us. I can't believe you guys have to pay so much for plates, though. Gee, i wonder how much it costs them to make the plates. i'd guess it's a great deal of profit for the state.

[LeftyMom]

4. Wear and tear? Plates are painted metal, I can't see how that would be a big problem.

We don't generally replace them out here in California, they stay with the car and it's not at all uncommon to see 50+ year old classic cars with equally vintage plates, which are still perfectly valid and, I should add, not particularly worn.

PS My driver's license fee was $16, though it's since been increased to $28. It's another $6 if you need to retake the road test. Y'all are getting ripped off big time.

[dmallind]

11. Add six months a year of salt and ice slush spraying on that painted metal and see what happens. NT

[LeftyMom]

20. Sounds like the Sierra Nevada.

:shrug:

[Liberal In Texas]

12. They say the reflective covering deteriorates over the years.

According to the TxDOT website: "Legibility is the ease in which law enforcement may clearly read a plate's letters and numbers. Reflectivity allows the plate to be seen from long distances at night and is helpful in locating vehicles at night or off roads."

UV from the sun and heat are the usual culprits.

[regnaD kciN]

21. True -- here in Washington state...

...we replace our plates every seven years for that reason.

[Liberal In Texas]

5. Well, the wear and tear is a ligit reason. In Texas we're required to have new plates every 7 years

And it costs between $40 and $60 depending on the age of the car for standard plates. Plus many counties add their own fees on top of that.

Unfortunately, raising fees are one way to increase state and local revenue without looking (too obviously) like they are raising taxes. In these dire economic times, they're looking everywhere to try and balance budgets.

[dmallind]

6. A bit strained I think.

I've lived in many states before this one, and NYS is the cheapest by far in which to license and register a car (the cheapest I have lived in - I have no idea if it is THE cheapest). Nebraska cost me $451 a year to put plates on a Subaru for example. Moving to Florida may well help income tax, but just registering a car there would cost more than four to five times this particular fee. I don't think requiring new license plates every ten years or so is a bad thing, as they do often get a bit battered. This is also not new - both MN and MO have done this in my experience, and doubtless others.

There are plenty of taxes to complain about here - the property tax being the most egregiously unfair and onerous in my opinion (mine run about 3% of home value a year) - but the car registration and licensing fees are extremely reasonable and would remain so after this.

[Freddie Stubbs]

8. Perhaps the Governor just doesn't like the look of the old license plates

;)

[customerserviceguy]

25. Ah, subtle, but I caught it!

Governor Magoo can indeed smell money, however!

[alcibiades_mystery]

9. I have to pay $87 a year for a sticker that says I live in Chicago

Stop yer goddamn bellyaching and pay your share.

[ejpoeta]

10. for a sticker that says you live in chicago?? for your car?? what a load of hooey.

[mikeytherat]

16. Here in VA, I get to pay $20 for a windshield decal I don't get for taxes I don't pay.

See, the windshield decal indicates you've paid your taxes. The $20 payment is an "administrative fee" for the windshield decal that proves you've paid your car tax. Well, they have phased out the car tax for cars of my vintage (old), and they did away with the decal, too. Each year, however, I still have to pay the $20 administrative fee - for a windshield decal I don't get for the taxes I don't have to pay.

mikey_the_rat

[madrchsod]

17. plus the 78 dollar state licence sticker

and the drivers license fee.

[rucky]

13. Someone's brother-in-law must be in the license plate making business.

[Stevenmarc]

14. Sorry but $25 isn't going to make me flee the state

But thanks for reminding me that I needed to renew the registration.

[ejpoeta]

15. it's not the $25. it's the continually increased cost of living here in general.

but i am not fleeing the state yet.

[Obamanaut]

18. The metal plates are retired here after five years, with an added

fee for the replacement. This is in addition to the annual renewal sticker. The reason for the limit on the life of the plate is the degradation of the reflective paint.

And, we will see an increase in these prices in September also. So, it isn't just NY.

[taterguy]

19. Fight back. Get rid of your car. That'll teach those bastards a lesson

:sarcasm:, sort of

[LeftyMom]

22. How's your Jetta? nt

[taterguy]

27. Traded it for an Escalade

[Autumn]

23. We have a 1975 Dodge 4x4, original plates

are still on it and in good condition.:shrug: To make you buy new ones is just a way of raising taxes,and calling them fees is just too cute. I would be pissed too.

[madokie]

24. Ok just did that and I'm ok with it

The one on our f150 was getting pretty banged up anyway from hooking up to trailers so as to almost be unreadable.

[Contrary1]

26. Gee, if you're real lucky...

You might be able to order a nifty "In God We Trust" plate. Here in Indiana, it's the only special plate that doesn't cost the person buying it extra.

Funny how that worked out, since it costs more to make than just a plain one.

[ejpoeta]

28. so you don't pay extra for an 'in god we trust' plate, but any other vanity plate costs extra??

that is bullshit!

[Blue_Tires]

29. wow....$15 is cheap....

well, at least New Yorkers get a new plate out of the deal...The state could have simply raised the price without giving new plates...