TrueBeliever
Hater hater
So the other day I got the little card in the mail reminding me it's time to renew my car's registration. Great, I thought, another $70 down the drain.
Until I actually read the thing and saw that the fee jumped to $90 over the past year.
It used to be $45 for a standard renewal, and $55 if you had personalized plates (like I do.) Then a few years ago the moron state politicians realized they were going to have a $1 billion-plus deficit, and their way of fixing their screw-up was charging the taxpayers more, and it went to $55 and $70 (respectively). I thought about getting rid of the personalized plates, but decided it was still worth the extra 15 bucks.
But 90 dollars? That's just stupid.
As if that weren't bad enough, standard plates are $75 now, so either way I'm paying more than I was last year.
What really bugs me is that you have to pay the higher fee every year, not just the first. I can see paying more the first time, because they have to make the plates up special instead of just assigning you whatever number pops out of the computer. But why do you have to pay more every year after that? At that point the drone at the DMV office just does the same thing he always does, stamps your check and mails you your new sticker. I wrote about this in my newspaper column once.
I was thinking of switching to University of Wisconsin plates, where you get the logo of the UW of your choice on your plate for an extra $20, which goes to the UW you chose. At least that way if I'm paying such an exorbitant amount (it'd be $95 total) the extra money wouldn't go to Madison but to my alma mater in Stevens Point.
But then I saw that the extra $20 isn't considered tax-deductible, whereas the same fee for Packer plates is. WTF? I can take it off my taxes if I help pay overpaid pro athletes, but not to help further higher education? What's wrong with that picture?
I haven't totally decided yet, but I'm really leaning towards switching to standard plates. Call me a cheapskate, I'm still nowhere near the tightwad my old man is. Besides, with standard plates it'd be easier for me to stay anonymous when I flip off other drivers.
So which do you have?
Until I actually read the thing and saw that the fee jumped to $90 over the past year.
It used to be $45 for a standard renewal, and $55 if you had personalized plates (like I do.) Then a few years ago the moron state politicians realized they were going to have a $1 billion-plus deficit, and their way of fixing their screw-up was charging the taxpayers more, and it went to $55 and $70 (respectively). I thought about getting rid of the personalized plates, but decided it was still worth the extra 15 bucks.
But 90 dollars? That's just stupid.
As if that weren't bad enough, standard plates are $75 now, so either way I'm paying more than I was last year.What really bugs me is that you have to pay the higher fee every year, not just the first. I can see paying more the first time, because they have to make the plates up special instead of just assigning you whatever number pops out of the computer. But why do you have to pay more every year after that? At that point the drone at the DMV office just does the same thing he always does, stamps your check and mails you your new sticker. I wrote about this in my newspaper column once.
I was thinking of switching to University of Wisconsin plates, where you get the logo of the UW of your choice on your plate for an extra $20, which goes to the UW you chose. At least that way if I'm paying such an exorbitant amount (it'd be $95 total) the extra money wouldn't go to Madison but to my alma mater in Stevens Point.
But then I saw that the extra $20 isn't considered tax-deductible, whereas the same fee for Packer plates is. WTF? I can take it off my taxes if I help pay overpaid pro athletes, but not to help further higher education? What's wrong with that picture?
I haven't totally decided yet, but I'm really leaning towards switching to standard plates. Call me a cheapskate, I'm still nowhere near the tightwad my old man is. Besides, with standard plates it'd be easier for me to stay anonymous when I flip off other drivers.
So which do you have?
