From a recent Covington City Council meeting I was disappointed to hear that, as a Transportation Benefit District, the council is considering levying a $20 licensing fee for every vehicle in Covington.

You might wonder how this is possible with such tax limiting safeguards as I-601 and the $30 License Tabs initiatives. Well, as I understand it in the 2007 Legislative session, Rep. Geoff Simpson co-sponsored and Sen. Claudia Kaufman and Rep. Pat Sullivan voted for Engrossed Substitute House Bill 1858. This bill allows local governments to assess a $20 fee for vehicle licenses, without seeking voter approval, similar to the utility tax that was imposed on the citizens of Covington a couple of years ago.

An extra $60 for licensing my family’s cars this year won’t break our bank, but many families are suffering more severely, especially in our current economy. The continual inability of our Legislature to cut spending and instead rely on tax and fee increases to solve our budget problems is irritating at best and quite harmful to many. It certainly alerts us to more painful tax increases on the horizon.

Whatever city is home for you, if you don’t want to pay more to license your vehicles, I urge you to voice your opinion to your city council and plan to vote to replace our legislators with those who promise to balance the budget without raising taxes.

– Mark Hargrove