Almost $1000 to renew my MME tags!

[Mosworthy]

Ummmmm...
register every year?
Up here in BC, you register the car once when you get it......

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[joes723]

Ummmmm...
register every year?
Up here in BC, you register the car once when you get it......

Yessir. We have to pay to get stupid little stickers that validate the license plate every year. Taxes, fees, its expensive to be alive these days. Just like healthcare it's a racket.

 

[PCJohnD]

Welcome to Virginia! Possibly the most controversial tax here is the personal property (car) tax.

And California!

 

[Astraea]

Yeah, I recently was talking to family members about our EV and was talking about how some of the fuel cost difference comes from road taxes, and I realized an "oh crap" moment that municipalities are going to have to make up the "gas tax" some kind of other way for EVs. Probably is going to be recouped via registration fees, I would guess.

But. there is a problem with that. The "great" thing about the gas tax is, it is proportional both to the fuel efficiency of the vehicle (the more fuel efficient, the less fuel you use, less tax you pay) AND to the number of miles driven (the more miles driven, the more fuel used, the more tax you pay). This unconsciously promotes more fuel efficient vehicles AND things like carpooling and such.

I can't think of a convenient way to tax EVs besides registration tax. From there, it's either
1. something like a flat tax (which eliminates any incentives I pointed out above); or
2. a vehicle value tax (which is in a way perverse because you can drive 1 million miles a year and pay the same tax as someone who drives 1000 miles a year even though you are causing more wear and tear on the roads); or
3. a miles driven tax. But, this requires you to report your mileage when you register (which will end up like the IRS - wealthy people will be able to somehow avoid it and poor people will not)

A conundrum.

#3 would be easy for NY since we have to get a yearly inspection, just report every other year automatically when the car is inspected. Easy peasy ?

 

[JamesStew71]

Well, I do recall a major power grid failure last February.

yep and i own a 7500 watt generator sparky?

 

[iam-s-Hon]

yep and i own a 7500 watt generator sparky?

I'm so sorry for that.

 

[astronut325]

Sou Cal DMV renewal for me is $720

Thank you. That's a big jump from my Camry's $250. I was expecting it to be higher. Not THAT much higher.

 

[SeattleMachE]

Washington does not have a state income tax, so these types of fees and taxes are how we pay for our needs. In particular, the mass transit infrastructure being built out which is desperately needed.

 

[Mach1E]

Washington does not have a state income tax, so these types of fees and taxes are how we pay for our needs. In particular, the mass transit infrastructure being built out which is desperately needed.

That’s just the lies the government tells you. ?

Florida doesn’t have a state income tax either and I paid $51 for my annual registration.

 

[Andeh]

Free for the life of the car in the UK. ?

 

[SeattleMachE]

That’s just the lies the government tells you. ?

Florida doesn’t have a state income tax either and I paid $51 for my annual registration.

Florida is of course well known for its robust mass transit infrastructure.

 

[Mach1E]

Florida is of course well known for its robust mass transit infrastructure.

Nah, we are just known for low taxes.

We also don’t believe we should tax the entire state to pay for the mass transit in a few big cities.

Ironically? Florida is ranked pretty high when it comes to the quality of our roads compared to other states.

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/rankings/infrastructure/transportation

On that list, Florida ranks 14th for Road quality. Washington? Ouch… 42nd.

 

[highland58]

Nah, we are just known for low taxes.

We also don’t believe we should tax the entire state to pay for the mass transit in a few big cities.

Ironically? Florida is ranked pretty high when it comes to the quality of our roads compared to other states.

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/rankings/infrastructure/transportation

On that list, Florida ranks 14th for Road quality. Washington? Ouch… 42nd.

It's much easier to build roads when everything is flat, no hills and no real rivers. The mild weather also is easier on roads. Washington has lots of mountains, hills, rivers, and lakes, also the rain and snow are harder on the roads. Hillsides with lots of glacial till tend to slide. I suspect these reasons have a lot more to do with road quality than taxes and politics...

 

[SeattleMachE]

Nah, we are just known for low taxes.

We also don’t believe we should tax the entire state to pay for the mass transit in a few big cities.

Ironically? Florida is ranked pretty high when it comes to the quality of our roads compared to other states.

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/rankings/infrastructure/transportation

On that list, Florida ranks 14th for Road quality. Washington? Ouch… 42nd.

The 'few big cities' here in WA bring in huge revenue that benefits the entire state, and rest of the country, so it's pretty short-sighted to think problems should only be solved at the city-level rather than the state. That being said, the big line-item that is raising OP's registration cost is a fee that is tailored to the regions in which that infrastructure is being built.

 

[Mach1E]

The 'few big cities' here in WA bring in huge revenue that benefits the entire state, and rest of the country, so it's pretty short-sighted to think problems should only be solved at the city-level rather than the state. That being said, the big line-item that is raising OP's registration cost is a fee that is tailored to the regions in which that infrastructure is being built.

I guess in a thread about people complaining of the high cost of taxes/fees there’s bound to be someone happy about it I guess. Keeps the discussion going at least!

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