Some of you should be glad you don't live in CA. So basically, what cost $151 to register a 2001 Honda for $21,500 new in 2001 is proposed to cost $390, while other states like New York ($53.25), Texas ($68.80), Florida ($34), and Illinois ($78) pay a lot less.
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Vehicle license fee hike pushed
Top Democrats say they want the levy returned to 2%.
By John Hill and Margaret Talev -- Bee Staff Writers
Published 2:15 a.m. PST Wednesday, January 15, 2003Democratic leaders in the Legislature said Tuesday they would move to boost the annual fee Californians pay to license their vehicles to help balance midyear state budget cuts proposed by Gov. Gray Davis."All along, we've been saying we want to take a balanced approach," said Assembly Speaker Herb Wesson, D-Culver City. "There's no way that this problem can be dealt with with cuts alone. ... You cannot separate the two. This is our total January plan." Davis, who proposed an array of other tax increases last week, said he didn't like the idea but wouldn't rule it out.Democratic lawmakers believe they can increase the fee with a majority vote -- without Republican support -- but any bill would have to be signed by the Democratic governor.For a car valued at $22,050, the fee would go up from $144 to $442. That represents 2 percent of the vehicle's value, the rate that was applied until the Legislature began to bring it down in 1998.Wesson said Assembly Democrats would support midyear budget cuts of "at least" as much as the $4.2 billion generated by the vehicle license fee increase over the next 18 months.Davis has asked the Legislature to make $9 billion in cuts in an extraordinary round of reductions for the current fiscal year.It remains to be seen whether Democrats in the Assembly and Senate will embrace the full spectrum of Davis' cuts. Both houses are expected to hold hearings on the governor's proposal today. Davis has asked them to act on the midyear cuts by the end of January. In some cases, opportunities to save money would be lost if the Legislature failed to meet that deadline.Davis, in a budget proposal released last week to cover a $34.6 billion state budget shortfall over 18 months, called for increases in the sales tax, income tax on the wealthiest and the cigarette excise tax. All of those require two-thirds votes in both houses of the Legislature.The tax revenues would go to counties to cover the costs of a variety of health care, social service and court programs now paid for by the state.But the governor did not propose a step many insiders had expected -- returning the vehicle license fee to the 2 percent rate. Davis did call for stopping payments to cities and counties to compensate them for the revenue they lost when the state cut the vehicle license fees. Local governments depend on the revenue to fund an array of services, and for most counties it is the first or second biggest source of money.When the Legislature took steps to reduce the vehicle license fee in 1998, it included a provision that called for the fee to go up again in times of "insufficient moneys." But the law did not define what that meant or specify which official would make the call.Last summer, Senate Democrats -- over the objections of Republicans -- passed a bill on a simple majority that designated the director of the Department of Finance as the official. But the bill was not taken up in the Assembly.Wesson said he would propose a version of last year's bill."You definitely need clarification," he said.Senate President Pro Tem John Burton, D-San Francisco, said the fee was clearly intended to increase when state finances hit the skids."As far as I'm concerned, somebody ought to sue now to see that VLF trigger is hit," Burton said. "It's bureaucratic cowardice that's stopped them from pulling the trigger."Davis said that although he doesn't want to rule out anything, "I'm not enthusiastic about that at all."Assemblyman John Campbell, R-Irvine, said that Republicans remain opposed to the fee increase and that a lawsuit is likely if Democrats do it on their own. "Yes, cities and counties need money," he said. "I think also that working families need money."
http://www.sacbee.com/content/politi...-6856181c.html 
Tax automobiles that are valued in excess of $60,000 at a rate of 5%...the politicos will get the same windfall, and you won't be messing with the folks who are actually struggling. 
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