State To Seek Repeal of License Plate Fee

Posted by: Joseph Spector - Posted in Uncategorized on Nov 15, 2009

The state Legislature and Gov. David Paterson indicated Sunday they would look to repeal a new fee that would require motorists to pay $25 for new plates when their vehicle registrations expire starting in April 2010.

The sides said they will seek alternative revenue sources to make up for about $129 million a year the new fee was expected to generate in the 2010-11 fiscal year, which starts April 1.

The move comes in advance of a protest planned Monday by county clerks at the state Capitol. Clerks say they’ve accumulated more than 100,000 signatures of New Yorkers opposed to the new fee.

“We’re delivering their message to those who supported this license plate plan that the hardworking taxpayers of New York state won’t be ignored any longer,” said St. Lawrence County Clerk Patty Ritchie, who heads the state Association of County Clerks.

As part of the current budget, state leaders agreed to increase the fee from $15 to $25 and require drivers to get new plates when their registrations expire. It was part of about $7 billion in new taxes and fees included in the budget to close a nearly $18 billion budget gap.

Paterson said that if “the Legislature works with me, prior to the release of the 2010-11 executive budget, to identify real, recurring savings that will replace the revenue that would be lost, I will eliminate the new license plate requirement.”

So far, no alternatives have been proposed as the state grapples with a $3.2 billion mid-year budget deficit. Lawmakers are due back in Albany on Monday to try to close the budget gap.

But a statement Sunday from Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan, and Assembly Minority Leader Brian Kolb, R-Canandaigua, said the fee would be removed.

“The plan to issue new license plates for all vehicles will not go forward,” the statement said. “We understand that the governor is committed to this repeal, and we will work with him.”

Senate Minority Leader Dean Skelos, R-Nassau County, said now that Democrats have abandoned their “lame-brained plan” they should look to remove other taxes and fees.