Vehicle
registration fee significant recall issue
By
Angelika Meyer
Online
Forty-Niner
One
of the major issues up for debate in the
recall election is the tripling of the vehicle
registration fees.
"It's
an unfair way of making taxpayers fix irresponsible
politicians' budget mistakes," said
Andreas Meyer, international relations major
at the University of Southern California.
Many
people have similar opinions of the vehicle
registration fee increase, however, Gov.
Gray Davis discussed the specifics of the
legislation in an interview with Larry King,
on CNN Sunday night, and explained how the
vehicle registration fee goes to the counties.
Davis
told King that in 1998 former Gov. Pete
Wilson made an agreement with the counties.
They agreed to reduce the vehicle registration
fees by two-thirds and tohave this decrease
in county money be replaced by checks written
by the state from the general fund.
Wilson
and county officials also agreed that if
California was ever at a point where the
state could not afford to pay the counties,
the vehicle registration fees would increase
to compensate. In a year the registration
fee would be reviewed by the state legislature,
and could be reduced again if deemed unnecessary.
Unfortunately,
with the state deficit, Davis had to implement
the vehicle registration fees as per the
agreement made between Wilson and county
officials in 1998. With the passage of the
vehicle registration fee increase, it is
estimated to cost each person approximately
$158.
"This
means that I won't be able to pay for other
things, or I will have to take out a loan,
or drop classes. But if it means I will
remain safe with a high volume police force,
then it is a sacrifice I am willing to make,"
said Diana Martinez, a senior in communication
studies.
"Nobody
wants to pay such high registration fees,
however we need to pay this in order to
have the police force and fire academy this
money pays for," said David Bodnariuk,
CSULB business management and marketing
alumni.
However,
the revenue created by the increased vehicle
registration fee goes to the counties to
pay for public safety, health care, foster
care, and road maintenance.
"Without
the increase, or a stable source of revenue
to replace it, counties will have no choice
but to lay off police, firefighters and
support staff from that area." Clancy
Faria, president of the Peace Officers'
Research Association of California, told
the Ventura County Star.
Considering
this fee raise would generate $4.2 billion
in one year, when asked whether there is
an alternative for making this money, Martinez
said, "Realistically no. I mean, we
could cut the wages of the corporate CEOs,
but that will never happen."
Meyer,
had an opposing opinion and said, "There
are tons of alternatives. For one, they
could cut overlapping bureaucracies, and
make California a more business-friendly
state and thereby generate more revenue."
California's
vehicle registration fee is generated off
the price of a new car and averages two
percent. While it is difficult to compare
California's fee to other states because
every state determines their fee in different
ways, the two percent Californians will
have to pay seems minimal to the four percent
Arizona citizens pay.
Many
people are taking the fee increase into
considerations concerning the recall of
Gov. Gray Davis.
When
asked whether this legislation affected
his decision to recall Davis, Bodnariuk
said, "No. Why are we going to recall
Davis for a Pete Wilson law?"
Meyer,
while voting "Yes" on the recall,
said "He should not be recalled just
on the vehicle registration fee increase,
but there are definitely other things he
should be recalled for."
Many
of the recall candidates said that the first
thing they will do when elected governor
is remove the registration fee, however,
in a previously recorded statement with
the Ventura County Star, Mike McGowan, County
Supervisor, said, "It's an easy thing
to say, but almost impossible to accomplish."
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