Any regular reader of this blog knows that the Department of Motor Vehicles is routinely used to “tax” residents. New fees are being created all the time and existing ones are increased regularly (sometimes more than once in a year!). For instance, the surcharge on traffic fines was raised to $80 last August after having been raised to $60 in July. Last month, the state increased driver’s license and registration fees by 25%. DMV’s newest money-grab, however, is particularly distressing because it is environmentally un-sound.
Yesterday, the DMV announced that, starting April 1, 2010 (and its not an April’s Fools joke), that owners of the 10 million vehicles registered in New York must replace their perfectly good license plates when their registration expire with the Empire Gold license plate (pictured above). This move is expected to yield $129 million over the next two years and means that ten million perfectly good license plates will have to be removed, turned-in and then replaced, all so that New York can gouge its residents just a little more. This makes absolutely no sense.
The mandatory replacement will cost motorists $25 ($10 more than the current cost to replace plates) and, if you want to keep the plate number of your otherwise perfectly fine plate, you’ll have to add pay $20 extra. 
Needless to say, this is a huge waste of natural resources, and an unfair burden of time and money upon motorists. Already, a grass roots campaign against this measure has been started by St. Lawrence County Clerk Patricia Ritchie to continue to use the old plates (pictured on right). Please join me and sign her online petition telling your politicians that you’ve had enough. In just a short time, over 57,000 green-conscious residents have already signed it.
Update (11/24/09): Looks like this measure is dead on the vine. Over 100,000 signed Ms. Ritchie’s petition and Governor Patterson has indicated that he is less than enthusiastic about pursuing this ill-founded initiative. Finally, one for good guys vis-a-vis Albany politics.
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3 Comments. Leave new
The new ugly yellow plates will create an eyesore on my graphite gray BMW and I am very particular about making my vehicle look ugly. I prefer the existing blue on white Empire State plates instead.
Great post, Matt.
And you’re right…nothing wrong with the old plates. Plus, the new ones look like the old, old, old ones from 30 years ago (which were not at all attractive)!
I bet that someone high up in NYS government will say that the State Police needs this change for homeland security reasons, because the current NYS plates look similar to Pennsylvania’s and Connecticut’s. It’d a lame excuse, but someone will make it.
The timing couldn’t be worse. New Yorkers are cash-strapped.
Good luck, Empire State!
D
Thanks Dan.
And, your right, the new plates are a throw-back to the 1960s/1970s plates that New York previously issued, and officials are playing the “security” card which is utter non-sense, of course.