rockin'robin
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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Division of Motor Vehicle and tax collector's offices are mobbed Monday by people trying to beat large fee increases for driver's licenses, registration and other motor vehicle fees.
Already upset that the Florida Legislature raised fees -- dramatic increases in some cases -- effective Sept. 1, frustration mounted as people trying to renew early faced waits of more than three hours. The lines were slowed farther when the statewide DMV computer system crashed twice before noon Monday.
Lines are reported at DMV and tax collector's offices across the state. At at least two offices in Jacksonville were forced to briefly close their doors when fire department enforced building capacity limits.
Duval County Tax Collector Mike Hogan ordered hours extended Monday at its nine branches, so they will remain open until 7:30 p.m.
"I can't tell you how wonderful the people have been as far as their patience," Hogan said outside the Kernan office at 2 p.m. "I'm sure they're annoyed; some have been in line as much as three hours to get a transaction taken care of."
State DMV officials told Channel 4 their offices will stay open until 5:30 p.m. and that everyone in line at that time will be served.
DMV director of communications, Dave Westberry, told Channel 4 at midday Monday that If computer problems prevent people from getting served, an individual agency may offer a voucher that will allow the person to return by Sept. 10 and complete the transaction at the lower fee rate.
Initial driver licenses are going up from $27 to $48. Six-year renewals are more than doubling from $20 to $48. Motorists who renewed before Tuesday avoided the increase at least until their next renewal.
Besides a base rate determined by a vehicle's weight, annual registration includes a variety of other fees for such purposes as emergency medical services, transportation for the disadvantaged, air pollution control, the reflective material on plates and stickers that show a tag's expiration date.
The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles offers the example of a 2007 Acura four-door weighing 3,586 pounds. The old registration fees, including tax collector service charges that will remain unchanged, totaled $46.80. They'll be increasing to $71.85 -- a difference of $25.05, or 54 percent.
Here are examples of other increases:
Class E Drivers License goes from $27 to $48
Identification card goes from $10 to $25
Original or duplicate titles go from $24 to $70
Crash reports go from $2 to $10
Driver history records go from $2.10 to $10
Delinquent fees go from $1 to $15
As for the need to increase fees, many politicians and bureaucrats are blaming the economy or something -- or someone -- else including their political opponents, the federal stimulus plan and simply the fact many of the fees haven't been raised in more than 20 years.
"Why couldn't they wait until the recession is over?" asked registered nurse Carolina Gonzalez as she waited about an hour to renew the license plate on her Nissan Sentra. "I mean, there's lots of people without jobs. This is the completely wrong time to do this to people."
DMV Fee Hikes Prompt Lines, Questions - Jacksonville News Story - WJXT Jacksonville
Already upset that the Florida Legislature raised fees -- dramatic increases in some cases -- effective Sept. 1, frustration mounted as people trying to renew early faced waits of more than three hours. The lines were slowed farther when the statewide DMV computer system crashed twice before noon Monday.
Lines are reported at DMV and tax collector's offices across the state. At at least two offices in Jacksonville were forced to briefly close their doors when fire department enforced building capacity limits.
Duval County Tax Collector Mike Hogan ordered hours extended Monday at its nine branches, so they will remain open until 7:30 p.m.
"I can't tell you how wonderful the people have been as far as their patience," Hogan said outside the Kernan office at 2 p.m. "I'm sure they're annoyed; some have been in line as much as three hours to get a transaction taken care of."
State DMV officials told Channel 4 their offices will stay open until 5:30 p.m. and that everyone in line at that time will be served.
DMV director of communications, Dave Westberry, told Channel 4 at midday Monday that If computer problems prevent people from getting served, an individual agency may offer a voucher that will allow the person to return by Sept. 10 and complete the transaction at the lower fee rate.
Initial driver licenses are going up from $27 to $48. Six-year renewals are more than doubling from $20 to $48. Motorists who renewed before Tuesday avoided the increase at least until their next renewal.
Besides a base rate determined by a vehicle's weight, annual registration includes a variety of other fees for such purposes as emergency medical services, transportation for the disadvantaged, air pollution control, the reflective material on plates and stickers that show a tag's expiration date.
The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles offers the example of a 2007 Acura four-door weighing 3,586 pounds. The old registration fees, including tax collector service charges that will remain unchanged, totaled $46.80. They'll be increasing to $71.85 -- a difference of $25.05, or 54 percent.
Here are examples of other increases:
Class E Drivers License goes from $27 to $48
Identification card goes from $10 to $25
Original or duplicate titles go from $24 to $70
Crash reports go from $2 to $10
Driver history records go from $2.10 to $10
Delinquent fees go from $1 to $15
As for the need to increase fees, many politicians and bureaucrats are blaming the economy or something -- or someone -- else including their political opponents, the federal stimulus plan and simply the fact many of the fees haven't been raised in more than 20 years.
"Why couldn't they wait until the recession is over?" asked registered nurse Carolina Gonzalez as she waited about an hour to renew the license plate on her Nissan Sentra. "I mean, there's lots of people without jobs. This is the completely wrong time to do this to people."
DMV Fee Hikes Prompt Lines, Questions - Jacksonville News Story - WJXT Jacksonville
