McGuinty increases licence fees to battle his deficit

[Locutus]

Mired in a $16-billion deficit and facing an uncertain financial future, Ontario is turning to consumers to help it dig out of trouble. The province announced Tuesday it will raise a range of driver fees, including licence validation, renewals, replacement, driver exam fees, trailer permits, as well as a range of other fees for commercial vehicles.


Licence-plate renewals will rise to $98 within the next three years, a 33% increase over the current $74 charged in southern Ontario (northern residents are charged a lower rate that will rise by the same percentage).


Those rates will rise to $82 on Sept. 1, officials said, and then again each year after until they reach $98 in 2015.
Transportation Minister Bob Chiarelli said the higher fees are a “thoughtful” choice that will help eliminate the deficit and help keep roads and bridges in good shape.


Mr. Chiarelli said Ontario’s drivers’ fees are among the lowest in Canada, and will continue to be middle of the pack, even after the increases.




Ontario licence fees to increase in effort to trim deficit | News | National Post

 

[mentalfloss]

There's nothing unreasonable with that. It's not much to pay yearly, and if it is a considerable source of revenue to pay off the deficit, then go for it. I usually renew mine for 2 years at a time.

 

[shadowshiv]

Mired in a $16-billion deficit and facing an uncertain financial future, Ontario is turning to consumers to help it dig out of trouble. The province announced Tuesday it will raise a range of driver fees, including licence validation, renewals, replacement, driver exam fees, trailer permits, as well as a range of other fees for commercial vehicles.


Licence-plate renewals will rise to $98 within the next three years, a 33% increase over the current $74 charged in southern Ontario (northern residents are charged a lower rate that will rise by the same percentage).


Those rates will rise to $82 on Sept. 1, officials said, and then again each year after until they reach $98 in 2015.
Transportation Minister Bob Chiarelli said the higher fees are a “thoughtful” choice that will help eliminate the deficit and help keep roads and bridges in good shape.


Mr. Chiarelli said Ontario’s drivers’ fees are among the lowest in Canada, and will continue to be middle of the pack, even after the increases.




Ontario licence fees to increase in effort to trim deficit | News | National Post

No surprise there. He likes to increase costs. How he continually gets into office boggles the mind.

 

[Tonington]

Your provinces financial report chaired by Don Drummond had no mandate to recommend tax increases, but it did suggest that the Ontario Government should update their fees schedules to blend full cost-recovery of services offered and indexation to inflation. The Auditor-General advised a similar approach that could account for up to $500 million if the costs were actually recovered.

 

[lone wolf]

Odd thing is D/L and car licence fee increases were said to be necessary to maintain provincial highways, yet there was something on the TV news about how we better get used to potholes and crumbly bridges due to cut-backs in funding. That's sort of like the tire tax that never did anything to prevent the Hagersville fire ... or fishing tax - but they haven't been doing a great job at restocking lakes

 

[SLM]

No surprise there. He likes to increase costs. How he continually gets into office boggles the mind.

Because as lame as he is, the other choices are even lamer? That can be the only reason I can think of.

Odd thing is D/L and car licence fee increases were said to be necessary to maintain provincial highways, yet there was something on the TV news about how we better get used to potholes and crumbly bridges due to cut-backs in funding. That's sort of like the tire tax that never did anything to prevent the Hagersville fire ... or fishing tax - but they haven't been doing a great job at restocking lakes

A cynical person might think they're using all that cash to fund their own perks (think e-health for example) instead of applying the funds where they are needed. A cynical person would think that.

 

[taxslave]

Because as lame as he is, the other choices are even lamer? That can be the only reason I can think of.



A cynical person might think they're using all that cash to fund their own perks (think e-health for example) instead of applying the funds where they are needed. A cynical person would think that.

Good thing none of us are cynical.


I don't pay much attention to Ontario politics but it does seem to be dominating the Toronto controlled news lately.
I guess that eliminating the need for a whole bunch of permits and fees and therefore all the legions of expensive bureaucrats that issue them would be too simple a concept?

 

[lone wolf]

Various Ontario governments over the years have proven themselves remarkably adept in the art of buying foot-seeking bullets.

 

[SLM]

Good thing none of us are cynical.


I don't pay much attention to Ontario politics but it does seem to be dominating the Toronto controlled news lately.
I guess that eliminating the need for a whole bunch of permits and fees and therefore all the legions of expensive bureaucrats that issue them would be too simple a concept?

I don't think any politician really grasps the less is more concept.

They raise user fees here, increase spending there, cut a tax elsewhere and raise their own salaries. All they ever end up doing is move the money around. So yeah, I'm cynical.