By: David McKinley
Earlier this summer a new bill was passed known as the FASTER bill that would help the state increase revenue for road projects and other areas that need funding. The very basics of how this bill affects the citizens is that when someone registers a vehicle late, you will owe 25 dollars a month every month after the grace period of one month. This is all fine and good right? This seems fair if you are late on paying your registration.
There is however a problem with this, an area that has been overlooked. I have a motorcycle that was just a dirt bike that was converted to be street legal, and I once had it on the road as a means of fuel efficient transportation, until I purchased a real street motorcycle. The time came where I wanted this vehicle on the road once again, as I had transferred the registration and my license plate to the later bike, and I was told I needed to pay a 100 dollar late fee. I was unsure what I was late for, as this was not a full time road vehicle, though unfortunately it turns out that there were no concessions made for vehicles of this sort.
If I was the only one with this problem I would let it go, however I am aware of others who had this same event happen. Wouldn’t this bill do the right thing by not making it harder for fuel efficient vehicles to get on the road, especially with this economy, the concern over oil, and the environmental impact of CO2?
5 comments:
It seems that there needs to be some other sort of incentive to get people to buy more fuel efficient vehicles. Because there is definitely no incentive to have these vehicles if you are charged more in registration fees in the long run. The government shouldn't punish people for reducing their fuel use. Maybe a price cut on registration of fuel-efficient vehicles? However, I do think the Bill is right in charging a late fee to those who don't pay their normal registration in time.
If the government were to create an incentive for people to drive more fuel efficient cars, I believe that it would be a long-term disappointment. I believe this because people would jump at the gun at first and then as time goes by, say two years, I believe those people that wanted the incentives will no longer be apt to buying fuel efficient cars. People who have low incomes will generally not want to buy a new car because it is too big of an expenditure. The late registration needs to be re-examined to include motorcycles because the penalties are way too steep.
I agree. There needs to be some kind of part-time designation that you can register for in order for this law to make sense. The last time I was renewing my plates, the guy next to me was having a similar complaint and was being fined because he hadn't used his motorcycle in a couple of years because it had been broken. This is another law that could place more burden on the poor as well.
How about the fact that cars are taxed every year (in registration fees), in addition to sales tax. Also, any used vehicle will be taxed upon resale (also in registration fees). To me, it seems that taxing anything more than once is financial "double jeopardy". I.e. a car built in 1960 and sold 5 times has been taxed at least that many times!
I wish that they could reduce prices on things like this but it is hard to have cuts and incentives for people when technology is so fresh and recent on the market, because they still need the money to keep manufacturing, i think over time as more buy prices will lower and they will be much more affordable for the average person, but it will take time
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