Florida dramatically increased Driving license and registration fees

Just got bitten by that this morning.

Renewal went from $20 to $48 ! Late renewal fee went from $1 to $15. Titles and Tags renewal went up by 35% I was told , and new car registration went up from $100 to $225 !!!!!!!!!


Those increases are not to cover expenses, just to get more revenue. To balance the budget without having to increase "Taxes" , or so I was told .

Yeah , God forbid they raise taxes so the RICH can pay more , no .... they increase flat fees that are collected from both well off people and poor people that absolutely need to drive to keep their Jobs, get groceries , and commute. The public transportation system totally sucks in most of Florida.

I , personally , can easily absorb this increase , but I am still pissed off at the inane reasoning behind it , the total inconsideration for struggling families , all to avoid burdening the upper tax brackets with a few percent Tax increase.


~rant off~

To them user fees are not taxes...

regressive in nature...

Gray Davis was blamed for a car tax spike that most Californian's disagreed with, and then Ahnold came riding in with a promise to "extahmanate da cah tax dat is drahning Caleefornia wahking famahleez." People bought the gag.

:silly:

You should hear my Russian, it would have you rolling on the floor. :dunce:

:spray:

How's mine?

"I like Cauliforniah becuz zey grow cauliflowuh here unt cauliforniah zounds like cauliflowuh zo zat iss why I like cauliforniah."

It sucks, but you've got to admit that the budget crisis here in Florida does necessitate some sort of increased revenue-generating measures.

bureaucrats got new offices (in new office buildings). Kids still attend classes in trailers. This is one fucked state.

It would have been more regressive if they decided to raise the money by increasing public transportation fees.

fares and it's mostly the poor that ride the buses. Go to www.palmtran.com. It's mind boggling. The people who can least afford the increase are hit with enormous fare increases.

I sell cars in Florida. The deposit for a new tag used to be $200 - it's now $425. Depending on a person's birthday, the bill might be anywhere from $370 to $420 (they get a check back for the difference).

I'm having a hard time explaining to people that we're not fleecing them on registration.

IIRC it was $25/month fee for each month a reg was late in renewing, maxes out I think at $150(?) or so, in addition to the missed months -- which used to be all you paid.

The point being, for a utility trailer worth about $150 I felt foolish, but paid. "Seasonal" vehicles like motorbikes and trailers will get hit the most, I expect.

... and to add insult... saw him on TV bragging about how he "did not raise taxes".

Now 'lil Charlie-boy scampers off to Washington , D.C. to run for Senate.

Oh ya... Senate.. now you're talkin'.. that's where the REAL Ponzi scheme pays off... just ask Max Baucus.

Meanwhile... back in Florida....

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Missing in Florida- Retirement MOJO Florida losing population


The Sunshine State just had its first population loss since 1946, according to research from the University of Florida. The State lost 58,000 residents in the year ending March, 2009, the first such loss since military personnel left the State when WWII ended.

This decline is sobering to Florida, a state used to nothing but unending growth. The experts are quick to provide a multitude of reasons for this change, leading the casual observer to think Florida might have lost its (retirement) mojo. The current recession and attendant housing crisis is the most important reason for the decline. Construction is hugely important in this state, yet there is so little of that work that people are leaving the state to find jobs. Meanwhile the free fall in housing prices brought on by foreclosures, bankruptcies, and short sales has brought panic into the market; people are losing their homes and others are afraid to buy and see prices go down further. The state has prided itself on being a low-tax state, which is now producing its own problems. State and local budgets are being cut drastically, helping to fuel the recession and discourage families from moving here. Lastly, the hurricanes of a few years ago have led to dramatic increases in homeowner insurance rates, adding greatly to the cost of living here.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/216129

Those with more cars will pay more, those with no cars get no increase.

Oh, wait...

however, this was ALL OVER The news in the months/weeks before the upgrade and if we were able to get the title 3 days earlier than we did we could have saved a couple hundred in fees.

2) You could have renewed your tabs early, before the change, even if they weren't due yet, and paid the lower fee.

I suppose that I'm not that upset about it, having lived in Washington where my car tabs and registration fees and such were just as high as FL, and in some cases higher, (WA has no income tax either) and for years paid hundreds and hundreds of dollars every year to fund a study of a study that studied the study on the viability of the study of the viability of a light rail system that is as dead and gone as my great great grandmother. Billions of dollars via car tabs/taxes/registration down the tubes...not a cent returned....