New rates for things like driver's licenses and registration fees from the NY State Department of Motor Vehicles went into effect yesterday. All over NY State, the standard driver's license fee is now $64.50—up from $50, but in NYC and surrounding counties drivers will have to pay $80.50, because those areas are helping bail out the MTA. Registration fee-wise, a typical passenger vehicle will cost $55 (up from $44), but in the NYC-area, it'll be $105. Republican legislators are using the high fees to show how much Governor Paterson has raised taxes, but Paterson said he'd consider reducing them if the GOP can find revenue elsewhere, "I'd be happy to entertain it but they are not just going to be able to get up at a news conference and act shrill. They are going to have to tell us where they can close the gap."





This is ridiculous. Why shouldn't drivers in Albany or Buffalo pay extra to fund their mass transit? All the money in this state is generated in the NYC area -- why do we get leeched for even more?!?!?!
mass transit in Albany and Buffalo?! that has gotta be a joke.
albany = no subway
buf = 1 rarely used line that goes nowhere
nyc = mta a.k.a "the bottomless pit"
so NYS is basically the black hole.
Great, a pissing match and we have to pay 41% more for a license and over 100% more for registration?
WTF, over.
How much does Paterson have to pay for his licen....
Woops.
Try to keep the gloves up.
So wrong!! Hilarious though, good one!
The cost should be equivalent, no matter where you live in the state.
That said, the fee is too low. How long does a license last for? 6 years? So, to get licensed to drive still costs less than $20/year. The cost should be about $100/year to drive, and a non-driving ID should be $10/year. If you want to drive in a city, where you don't need to, you should have to pay $500 for a license and $100-200/year to register your car.
Drivers claim they get tired of subsidizing mass-transit, but I think non-driving taxpayers are tired of subsidizing the repair and construction of bridges and roads we don't use. Let drivers pay for the repairs with higher license fees, higher registration fees, higher inspection fees, tripled tolls and congestion fees. Don't like it? Don't drive.
you are a self-centered pompous ass. go back to canada.
if i have a car in shit-hole queens or nowhere staten island, where you need a car more as much as in the suburbs upstate and in long island, why should i pay $500 for a license and $200 a year to register my car so your lazy ass can take the subway at any hour of the day, and so that some rich asshole can take the lirr for cheaper than it should be?
2) get your story straight. the cost should be equivalent across the state, but it should be higher if you live in a city?
3) license and registration fees are much different than congestion fees. take your head out of your ass and step out of your ideology bubble for a minute.
I got my license renewed in July -- 8 years for $50. Hopefully the fee will come back down before then.
You can stop paying for bridges and roads as soon as you agree not to ride on them ever or to use any goods or services that require those roads to get to you. And to refuse the help of any NYPD, FDNY, EMS, etc. that use those roads. Or to receive any visitors or deliveries that use those roads. That includes sidewalks.
Thank you, Manitoba is a first class dick. Some of his recent comments on different stories are really just...
Ah nevermind...just nevermind...
Yes, like drivers and non-drivers alike, my food and other services arrive via the biways and highways.
But unlike the drivers, I do not own or operate an automobile. I am not using and beating on the road and bridges infrastructure to the same degree that an automobile owner does.
If you want me to pay for the bridges and roads you drive over every day, then please chip in for Mass Transit.
I walk to work but I still pay plenty towards mass transit, even though I use it far less frequently than you use city streets.
I got a renewal notice (in mid-August):$80.50 for an 8 year renewal
I'm with Manitoba2 on this; the fee is too low, & it should be spread to everyone in the state. I'm tired of subsidizing drivers, breathings their poisonous exhaust, & listening to them lean on their horns. Eff cars.
All this will do is cause a rise in the trend of people registering their vehicles out of state (often in places where things like inspections are lax) where it is much cheaper.
Because it's easier and cheaper to have a second address in a different state and then have to drive back to that state to renew your license/registration/inspection? Yup. It'll be a trend.
Not so unreasonable if you register at a family residence that you visit a couple times a year. Most people I know with cars in city or surrounding boroughs keep their car registered out of state.
"Truck drivers, for example, will have to pay higher fees as well, which will likely be passed along to consumers."
We can look forward to even more shitty drivers with PA plates.
How about NY state and NYC lower spending, cut programs, and lay off overpaid bureaucrats. Thus, lowering taxes. Duh!
That would actually require hard work and tough decisions. Easier to just raise fees and taxes!
Exactly. Raising prices is the easy and simple way out.
the parties would actually have to work together to make that happen. not a chance for that until we vote out those entitled incumbents and get some term limits.
Why is there a pic of a Hawai'i Drivers license?
That's McLovin from Superbad. Hilarious
Pop Cultural Reference Fail
Why do you have such a weird bike helmet for an icon?
lol.
How about fee scale based on MPG and carbon footprint? Sorry, wouldn't work, I have a license but no car, you can drive any car once you have a license. Maybe vehicle registration fees based on weight, MPG, odometer readings, violations and accidents? Seems fair. Oh, that and a $10 registration fee for bikes, baby strollers and really slow walkers. Just kiddin, guys!