Governor’s license plate tax grab is highway robbery
The resistance to Governor Cuomo’s highway heist to raise license plate fees on millions of motorists is growing.
As you may have heard, the Governor has announced a plan to force people with perfectly functioning blue and white license plates to turn them in starting April 2020 and pay a $25 fee for new ones and another $20 fee if you want to keep your current plate number.
After ending its previous contract with 3M, the state has initiated a new two-year $4 million contract with Avery Dennison to supply the raw materials to produce the newly designed license plates. New York’s license plates are then manufactured at Auburn Correctional Facility by inmates at a labor cost of up to $300,000 annually.
Based on my analysis, the license plates cost $1.15 per plate to produce, and we project that the state will reap a $70 million windfall with revenue collected from the $25 per plate fee. This does not even consider additional revenue the state would receive from those who want to keep their current plate number and pay an extra $20 per plate for that “convenience.”
There is no mandated $25 plate replacement fee in New York State law. The law states from Part H of the 2009 Budget, that the Administration can charge a fee, “not to exceed $25.” Clearly, as Governor Paterson did in 2009 when he instituted the last plate replacement program and charged $0 per plate, Governor Cuomo has chosen the maximum $25 fee. Lastly, it is important to note that neither I, nor any Republican, voted yes on the 2009 law to allow any governor to charge a fee, “not to exceed $25.”
The Governor has the sole authority to not charge the $25 fee and as little as zero without legislative intervention. He should do the right thing now and stop this $70 million cash grab before it becomes a negotiating chip in next year’s state budget talks.
New York already has some of the highest registration fees in the nation. Meanwhile, the state has lawsuits pending galore against different individuals and organizations. 3M, the company that produced the plates that are defective, should be made to pay their part for their ineffective product, while those who have license plates that are just fine should not be forced to turn in their current plates and buy new ones.
Opposition to the Governor’s License Plate Tax grab is bipartisan and growing by the day. Locally, I’m proud that my colleagues who also represent Saratoga County, Senator Daphne Jordan, Assemblywoman Mary Beth Walsh, Assemblyman Dan Stec and Assemblyman John McDonald, have publicly come out in opposition to the Governor’s license plate plan. Many County Clerks oppose the plan, including Saratoga County Clerk Craig Hayner, Rensselaer County Clerk Frank Merola and Fulton County Clerk Linda Kollar.
The Fulton County Board of Supervisors and the Rensselaer County Legislature have passed resolutions of opposition to the license plate plan and a similar resolution is pending before the Saratoga County Board of Supervisors and in other counties.
This License Plate Tax is truly highway robbery for the over-taxed and overburdened taxpayers of New York State and the Governor should listen to the overwhelming chorus of people who are outraged by it and do the right thing by revoking it.
Help me continue to fight the Governor’s License Plate Tax by visiting my website and signing my petition to stop it at: https://www.nysenate.gov/petitions/jamestedisco/stop-nys-licenseplate-tax.
Let’s show the Governor that enough is enough and New Yorkers just can’t afford it anymore.