With his political foes attacking and even Democratic legislative leaders ready to aim both guns, the Governor made the right move and killed this fee quickly, but was it painless, let’s hope so.
Not even a year after being faced with several tax hikes, Massachusetts voters were about to go apoplectic about a fee that harkened back to the days of Mitt Romney’s sneaky (behind your back tax) fee hikes of 2003.
People I spoke to were outraged that they would have to pay $5 just to speak to a fellow human at an RMV office – five dollars to speak to someone they don’t want to talk to anyway and on top of it all have to wait in line to do so!
To balance our state budget, the Governor and Legislature had to make difficult choices last year – as they embark on this year’s task which looks like it will be as difficult or possibly worse – this fee was an awful idea, turned bad policy with terrible timing!
I’ll agree that the implementation of this was terrible, but I don’t really think it is a bad idea.
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p>As a part of the internet generation and someone who likes to do everything possible online, and as someone who hates the obscenely long waits at RMV branches, I would love to see the state implement a policy similar to this. Simple renewals that can be done online or through an automated phone system should be. I want as short a wait at the RMV as possible.
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p>As I see it, there were two big problems with how the Gov/RMV went about it.
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p>First, there are many people without access to the internet or unlimited phone minutes. This $5 surcharge disproportionately affected poor people and the elderly. To address that problem, RMV branches could offer computer kiosks on-site to allow anyone who came into the branch in-person to complete their transaction without incurring the extra cost.
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p>Second, intentionally deceiving RMV customers (see the internal memo directing branches not to list the fees separately) was an ENORMOUS mistake and was unnecessary. Additional fees of any kind will never be well received, but nothing angers voters more than feeling like they are being taxed more AND lied to at the same time.
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p>Did they really think no one would notice?
Guess what, we already have “computer kiosks on-site to allow anyone … to complete their transaction without incurring the extra cost.” It’s call the public library.
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p>And “unlimited minutes”? Are you really telling me that Grandma doesn’t have a landline?
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p>Finally — it’s five bucks!!!! If you are at the RMV, you have a car on the road. Which means (even if the car is paid up), you’re paying for insurance, gas, maintenance, inspections, city excise taxes, and other RMV fees?
if you go the extra step with your thesis – the state and city can make tons of cash – we should be charged $5 for every contact with someone in state and local government.
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p>examples:
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p>Paying for a parking ticket in City Hall at the second floor window = $5 (“you’re paying for insurance, gas, maintenance, inspections, city excise taxes, and other RMV fees” anyway)
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p>Making an appointment with your State senator and Rep. with a constituent call = $5
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p>Checking out a book at the Library = $5
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p>Filing paperwork in person at the Secretary of State’s Corporation Division = $5 (you’re paying for business insurance, gas for company cars, payroll tac, health inurance, etc. anyway)
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p>Testifying before a Legislative Committee = $5
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p>Having an issue wth your local tax bill? go to city assessing office = $5 (you’re paying for aa mortgage, insurance, gas, electric, maintenance, inspections, city property taxe, and other bills anyway)
Doesn’t have anywhere enough parking, a little ironic isn’t it.
And how much has it already cost the legislature to deal with that mess?
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p>Please — spare me your righteous indignation.
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p>Payoffs for one company’s software contracts with the state would pay for 11,400 in-person license renewals. The House legal fees to comply with the requests of federal prosecutors for the case surrounding those software contracts would cover 75,600 more (and those are tax dollars).
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p>—
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p>This isn’t about a “fee to talk to a government employee.” It’s about something as simple as wait-time at the RMV.
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p>There are plenty of ways to renew a license or registration without going down to the RMV in person and making everybody who actually has to be there wait twice as long. Those people who make the rest of us waste twice as much time deserve to pay an extra $5 (and no, by “those people” I don’t mean the poor and the elderly).
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p>I actually agree with a lot of your original post. I don’t like anything about the way the Patrick administration went about implementing the fee, lying about it, and then denying any involvement. There shouldn’t be any fee for a transaction that does require someone to show up at the RMV in person, but straight-forward license/registration renewals are a different story.
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p>To everybody who raised a stink about the “back door RMV tax:”
next time you need to wait 90 minutes to speak to an RMV employee for a legitimate reason, just be glad all those people there to do something they could be doing online don’t have to pay an extra $5.
Its called common sense – I am not opposed to fees for government services – but simply charging a fee to speak with someone is nonsense.
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p>They should have opted to raise an existing fee – instead of sparking political and public outrage by charging tax paying citizens a fee to speak to a fellow human at a government agency.
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p>That is absurd….
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p>AND If you can’t keep your snarky comments realted to my posts then don’yt respond to me.
…and I think they messed up at just about every step of the process.
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p>I would have liked to see them raise an existing fee and provide exemptions to those who do simple renewals online or through the automated phone system. I also would have liked them to do it out in the open without being so shady.
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p>Also, sorry about my snark. I will blame the combination of beer and the excitement of a new episode of LOST, but really, it was in poor taste for me to write that either way. Regardless of how I feel about your old boss, I always liked you in that job and I’m glad too see you posting here. My appologies.
looking forward to more back and forth on the issues – also do I know who you are. let me know, if you can.
You must be a lobbyist or donor in the 6 figure range.
Any regular folks who are CRAZY enough to think they can speak with the President are arrested.
This entire RMV fee fiasco makes me embarrassed to be a Democrat.
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p>Every high school sophomore knows, or should know, that the right way to accomplish this fee adjustment was:
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p>1. Announce an across-the-board increase in every relevant fee of $5.00 (frankly, it should be $10, but that’s a different matter).
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p>2. Announce a $5/transaction credit for each transaction done using the internet.
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p>3. Tell the world about the new fee structure loudly and proudly.
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p>4. Stick to your guns when a bit of fur flies.
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p>Charging lower fees for people who, by using the net, impose lower costs on the State is the obviously right thing to do. That’s why it should be done, that’s why Governor Patrick should say so, that’s why the program should have been announced the way I propose, and that’s why the Governor should not only not reverse himself, but should be leading the charge to correctly disparage the state senators and representatives who show such cowardice and fundamental dishonesty.
Well said, BTom.
That would have been the way to do it, it wasn’t the way they did it. They also closed a multitude of RMV locations which I assume they had long term leases on. I don’t think they reduced employee count, so where is the cost savings. I got the feeling the branches were closed to inconvenience the public.
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