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Hernando Today

Cost of driving ready to rise

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By KYLE MARTIN

Hernando Today

Published: July 9, 2009

Updated: 07/09/2009 09:27 pm

BROOKSVILLE - "This just isn't right," Jim Candy thought as he studied the notice.

The yellow slip of paper he held in his hand was a heads-up from the tax collector that vehicle registration fees will be increasing Sept. 1.

That and driver's license fees and just about any other state charge associated with driving - some as much as 100 percent.

State legislators passed the fee increases to patch a budget shortfall, but for Candy, 78, it's one more expense in these tight times.

"I've got enough problems," Candy said Wednesday from a recliner in his High Point home.

A Michigan transplant, Candy felt secure in his pension from General Motors up until the company filed for bankruptcy protection recently. He lost his left leg to cancer 14 years ago and now is debilitated by lung cancer.

His wife, Jeanne, said it seems the older they get the more the government takes away.

"It's quite a worry," she added.

Hernando County Tax Collector Juanita Sikes sympathizes.

"I can certainly understand how irate people can be," she said. "To see the fees increased this much, it's not a good time to do this."

The complaints have only been a trickle at this point, but Sikes is expecting a flood as the deadline approaches. She jokes that her office will have to be outfitted with bulletproof glass when the tag fee increases.

Florida bases its fees almost entirely on the weight of the vehicle and does not include a personal property tax like some other states. So, for instance, a 2009 Hyundai will be charged the same as 2000 Mitsubishi that falls in the same weight category.

The average vehicle falls into the 3,500 pound category. That cost will rise from $32.50 to $44, according to the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. Sikes said those are the base fees and do not include sundry other charges that will raise several dollars further.

The cost of obtaining a driver's license will rise from $27 to $48; the cost to replace a license is changing from $10 to $25.

The Candys rely on their handicap tag for a close parking spot when they visit the doctor. The increase they're seeing on that tag is the same as for any other vehicle registration.

The only difference is if a citizen brings in a regular tag and wants to have it converted to a handicap tag. That cost is jumping from $12 to $28. There is no charge for a four-year handicap placard that hangs from a rear view mirror.

Sykes stresses her office had nothing to do with the extra fees and that the extra money is going straight back to the state - not the county.

One option for some citizens to avoid the extra charges is to take advantage of a 90 day pre-registration. If your birthday is in September, October or November, you can pay for two years in advance.

That's cold comfort for Jim Candy.

"Expenses are going up, up, up," he said.

Reporter Kyle Martin can be reached at 352-544-5271 or kmartin@hernandotoday.com

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