Florida DMV Offices Flooded to Beat Tuesday's Fee Hikes
Emily Miller
Columnist
Posted:
08/31/09
Florida residents are flooding the offices of the state's Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles to renew their drivers' licenses and tags before Tuesday, when higher fees go into effect. The increases were passed by the Florida Legislature to make up for a budget shortfall caused by the recession.
Florida lawmakers voted to raise the fees last spring to help close the budget gap, according to the Miami Herald. The legislature voted to raise state fees for nearly every government service, including fishing permits, filing court briefs, visiting parks and, of course, driving a motor vehicle.
Lawmakers say that the increased fees are necessary to avoid cutting more government jobs, reports the paper. Also, legislators point out that many of the fees have not been raised in 20 years.
So, Monday, drivers from across the state were in a mad rush to the DMV offices to save a few bucks. Initial driver licenses are increasing from $27 to $48, while six-year renewals will cost $48, more than double the current $20 fee. Motorists who renew before Tuesday avoided the increase at least until their next renewal.
Lawmakers say that the increased fees are necessary to avoid cutting more government jobs, reports the paper. Also, legislators point out that many of the fees have not been raised in 20 years.
So, Monday, drivers from across the state were in a mad rush to the DMV offices to save a few bucks. Initial driver licenses are increasing from $27 to $48, while six-year renewals will cost $48, more than double the current $20 fee. Motorists who renew before Tuesday avoided the increase at least until their next renewal.
The new fees are expected to raise more than $800 million during the current budget year and about $1 billion next year, according toNBC Miami.
The increased fees bill was signed into law by Gov. Charlie Crist (R-FL) who said he would "rather not do it" but that Florida has to "have a balanced budget, too, and it's better than raising taxes."
The DMV's Web site has been so inundated that it's been shut down for on-line renewals. The site instead posts a note: "Our Virtual Office online services are experiencing intermittent outages at this time due to extraordinary demand" and refers drivers to go to their local office locations instead.
The long lines, increased fees and pinch of the recession have incensed many Floridians. In Miami, registered nurse Carolina Gonzalez waited about an hour to renew the tag on her Nissan Sentra. She asked a reporter: "Why couldn't they wait until the recession is over? I mean, there's lots of people without jobs. This is the completely wrong time to do this to people.''
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