Car Registration - FEES?
May. 28th, 2012 11:29 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wwcitizenThe other day, the NJ Motor Vehicle Commission sent me a registration form - standard every year - for me to register my car. There's an envelope and a form to review containing all my current data, which is standard. The form has a front and a back and you need to confirm data as well as fill in certain things, such as your social security number - something I don't like to write out and put in the mail.
So, I went online to re-register my car. The form doesn't tell you that there's a $2.00 "convenience charge", but the website does when it tallies your payment. There's no tax for the registration, but there is this silly "convenience charge." Now, if I were to fill out a check, pop this form filled out in the mail with a stamp, all-in-all it would probably cost me $1.00 total.
But, in principle, I have a problem being charged a $2.00 "convenience charge," when ultimately, it's more convenient for the MVC to have the online registration process. It's more convenient not to build up paper waste for the state. It's more convenient for there to be no human error at the state level for registration completion and fulfillment. Right? Why should online users be charged a $2.00 "convenience charge"? Because it probably pays for the website hosting, data fees, credit card transaction fees, etc. I understand all that.
The "convenience" of online users is actually SAVING the state money, person hours, effort, and the possibility of human error. People who choose to mail in their registration payments should be charged the $2.00 for adding extra work rather than online users - as an "inconvenience charge".
New Jersey is one of two states (Oregon is the other) that requires gas attendants to fill your car with gas. People who pull up to the pump are not supposed to get out of their cars and pump their own gas. It's nice not to have to get out of my car on a rainy, snowy, cold, or really hot day to pump gas into my car. I can stay in my comfortable car while someone else does it. The thing is, having that "service" is actually saving the state and gas stations money!! NJ gas prices are much lower compared to most other states. Primarily because of subsidies and low fuel taxes, sure, but then also because of the lack of the need for as much liability insurance at the gas pump. There is also the increased maintenance of pumps from being regularly monitored. Self-service contributes to unemployment – especially among young people - so, the NJ set up is keeping/creating jobs that would otherwise be given to machines.
Throughout the US, other states have pretty high costs of liability insurance to allow people to pump their own gas. That insurance cost is conveyed not onto the majority of gas pumpers, but to those folks who pull up to a full service pump. It's more convenient and safer for people to stay in their cars and have someone else pump their gas, but, frankly, it would save the gas stations and the state money and liability by not charging the "convenient pumpers" for the extra cost of running a gas pump.
Same issue: Convenience charges laid out on the people who, ultimately, would help save money overall. The perspective is wrong and the people who'd be saving money, time, effort, and other costs are being charged, when all the folks who .
So, I went online to re-register my car. The form doesn't tell you that there's a $2.00 "convenience charge", but the website does when it tallies your payment. There's no tax for the registration, but there is this silly "convenience charge." Now, if I were to fill out a check, pop this form filled out in the mail with a stamp, all-in-all it would probably cost me $1.00 total.
But, in principle, I have a problem being charged a $2.00 "convenience charge," when ultimately, it's more convenient for the MVC to have the online registration process. It's more convenient not to build up paper waste for the state. It's more convenient for there to be no human error at the state level for registration completion and fulfillment. Right? Why should online users be charged a $2.00 "convenience charge"? Because it probably pays for the website hosting, data fees, credit card transaction fees, etc. I understand all that.
The "convenience" of online users is actually SAVING the state money, person hours, effort, and the possibility of human error. People who choose to mail in their registration payments should be charged the $2.00 for adding extra work rather than online users - as an "inconvenience charge".
New Jersey is one of two states (Oregon is the other) that requires gas attendants to fill your car with gas. People who pull up to the pump are not supposed to get out of their cars and pump their own gas. It's nice not to have to get out of my car on a rainy, snowy, cold, or really hot day to pump gas into my car. I can stay in my comfortable car while someone else does it. The thing is, having that "service" is actually saving the state and gas stations money!! NJ gas prices are much lower compared to most other states. Primarily because of subsidies and low fuel taxes, sure, but then also because of the lack of the need for as much liability insurance at the gas pump. There is also the increased maintenance of pumps from being regularly monitored. Self-service contributes to unemployment – especially among young people - so, the NJ set up is keeping/creating jobs that would otherwise be given to machines.
Throughout the US, other states have pretty high costs of liability insurance to allow people to pump their own gas. That insurance cost is conveyed not onto the majority of gas pumpers, but to those folks who pull up to a full service pump. It's more convenient and safer for people to stay in their cars and have someone else pump their gas, but, frankly, it would save the gas stations and the state money and liability by not charging the "convenient pumpers" for the extra cost of running a gas pump.
Same issue: Convenience charges laid out on the people who, ultimately, would help save money overall. The perspective is wrong and the people who'd be saving money, time, effort, and other costs are being charged, when all the folks who .
