Mayor praises North Country clerk, Joins petition fight against new license plate requirement

(Rome, NY) Calling a requirement for all New York motorists to fork over $25 for new license plates in April 2010 “nothing more than a cynical money grab,” Rome Mayor James F. Brown today added his support to an online petition started by St. Lawrence County Clerk Patricia Ritchie.

“I understand the need to close the state’s $3 billion deficit,” Brown said, “but making a new license plate requirement for taxpayers for the sole purpose of generating $129 million for the state coffers isn’t the way to go. People are hurting. This added burden is simply unfair.”

Beginning April 1, New York State will require new license plates for every one of the estimated 10 million cars, trucks, trailers and ATVs when their owners renew the vehicle registrations. The new plates will cost $25 – $10 more than the current cost. If you want to keep your same license plate number, it will cost you another $20.

In September, the state increased the price of a driver’s license 25 percent — $50 to $62.50.

According to published reports, the governor’s office has said the new licenses could make $129 million for the cash-starved state.

St. Lawrence County Clerk Patricia Ritchie told the Associated Press last Thursday she feels it’s an outrage to ask families and businesses to pay more for new license plates they don’t need or want when they are being battered by the ongoing recession, and has put together an online petition.

According to the Associated Press, the governor’s office issued a chilly response to Ritchie’s concerns.

“If the St. Lawrence County Clerk wants to eliminate $129 million in revenue for the state, she needs to suggest a way to replace it,” Morgan Hook, a spokesman for the governor, told the AP. “Is she calling for a $129 million tax hike? Is she calling for $129 million more in cuts to school aid? Because that’s really what this petition drive is all about. This is the type of irresponsibility that led to the crisis we face today,” he said.

“The irresponsibility is that instead of taking aim at high-paying political positions, pork-barrel spending or having employees share the load for their retirement system, the governor’s office says that it must make mid-year cuts to hospitals, school districts and cities and raise fees and charges on everybody else,” Brown said. “All that this does is take $129 million from the taxpayers; it doesn’t address any of the structural budget issues that got us here. It’s just plain wrong.”

Brown said he is urging people who agree with Ritchie to complete her online petition at www.nonewplates.com

Mayor praises North Country clerk, Joins petition fight against new license plate requirement

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