Paying for "Air Quality"?

[NeoConMan]

So I'm online to renew the plate for my motorcycle.

Something so quick, convenient and easy - right?

 

They continue to cut staff at all their offices and urge people to conduct business online.

Yet, all the costs associated with it keep rising. Can somebody explain that?

 

With our fiscal/monetary policies in the USA being created by chimps flinging sh!t at each other in a zoo,

I've decided that now, more than ever, I will scrutinize where every gov't-bound penny I spend really goes.

 

Here's the breakdown of "fees" to renew the plate on my overgrown dirt bike;

 

$52.96 : Vehicle License Tax

$9.25 : Registration Fee

$1.50 : Air Quality Fee

 

Okay, first let's look at the Vehicle License Tax.

Isn't that what I'm paying for - the license plate?

Nope.

I won't be getting a new plate, just a keen little reflective sticker with numbers on it, likely made by 3M.

 

A few years ago, I was heading up the crane/forklift/manlift safety program at work.

Our company deemed that only those 'certified as qualified' by a designated examiner (me) could operate them.

Management discussed issuing cards to all who completed the program, I disagreed.

 

Out in the plant, many workers (like me) do not carry their keys, wallet, or personal items.

If you lose them outside in such a huge facility, you're screwed. Where would they keep their new cards?

My idea was a reflective sticker on their hardhat with our corporate logo, with the cert. date punched out.

Can't be altered in any way, like some guys who would get a pen and "update" their cards themselves.

And it was easy to see at a glance - no sticker, get off the machine.

With our fancy logo and the month/year printed around the edges to be hole-punched, less than $1 apiece.

 

So it looks like my Vehicle License Tax really is nothing more than a tax.

 

 

 

The Registration Fee - this one kills me.

How can I get a new license "plate" from the State of Arizona without the State keeping track of it?

Especially if I'm paying $52.96 for that cute little sticker, doesn't somebody keep track of the money?

Isn't there some sort of book-keeping done with monies received by the state, records kept?

I mean, how do they know who has paid and who has not?

How can they sort out who to send the high-dollar sticker to, and who to suspend?

 

I'm guessing that everybody's vehicles are registered with the state in a comprehensive fashion.

But I have to pay a separate fee for that?

Why not just list a fixed price - you want tags, here's what it costs, thank you, end of story.

 

No, the registration fee was added to the license fee years ago to generate another revenue stream to waste.

See, people b!tch if the price of their tags goes up, but a Registration Fee, oh, that's different...

It's still YOUR money being given to a government that can't or won't pay its fxcking bills.

I'm tempted to deliver it in the form of a big sack of pennies.

 

 

 

The Air Quality Fee - this is the one that really pisses me off.

I've had plenty of dealings with the ADEQ - Arizona Department of Environmental Quality.

I can assure you that the air quality in Arizona is probably second to no other state if you look at the entire year.

 

The city of Phoenix has smog problems that all go right back to the automobile, but also to geography.

It's in a valley, and anything that doesn't rise into the atmosphere will stick around until weather removes it.

As anybody knows, that's one thing Phoenix does NOT have is weather - it's either hot or it's not, that's it.

 

ADEQ has to try hard to manage dust, it's the worst offender here and people think it's fxcking smog.

To keep the EPA out of their *** and from screwing with a state Washington DC doesn't understand, ADEQ was

created to go the EPA one better by being nearly Draconian in ther regulation. If the state is that damned mean,

then the feds look at them and give them a big " " for taking care of business.

 

All this is well and good, after being in heavy industry all my life I can appreciate some of it.

But anybody ever drive past a Burger King?

Did you ever see all the smoke coming out of the roof from all those flame-broiled Whoppers?

A dirty grill will smoke like hell, as anybody who has ever used one can testify.

The ADEQ guys probably eat lunch there and never even notice....

 

So, what does my $1.50 for an Air Quality Fee do for me?

Does it give me better air quality?

No.

 

Does it provide the seeds for yet another State agency to maybe do something later involving legislation?

Absolutely.

 

First the fee must be established for no apparent fxcking reason beyond the important-sounding name.

Then the fee can grow like a weed once people have stopped asking questions.

More money for the gov't to piss away like it's free - because it is!

 

Arizona was a lucky state for many, many years.

People with money moved here because they wanted to live here. Lotsa retirees and wealthy types.

People who don't need a job and don't use much in the way of gov't services.

But they spend money on nice stuff and employ lotsa people in all sorts of service industries.

The state had money coming at them faster than they could count it - and they spent every damned dime.

 

Now they need to raise fees and taxes on EVERYTHING to pay for their commitments.

What we're going through right now is the adjustment required to get rid of the spenders and get responsible

adults into the state offices who can make hard, adult decisions when there's no way to pay for stupid sh!t.

 

 

 

 

Lastly, here's the consent disclaimer they present to you to make you think you have any control whatsoever

in regard to your personal information that they demand you provide then promise to keep confidential.

They've failed miserably in this regard too....

The state has all but thrown open the windows and thrown personal info into the streets - accidentally.

 

 

The Federal Driver’s Privacy Protection Act 18 U.S.C. 2721-2725, as well as Title 28, Chapter 2, Article 5

of the Arizona Revised Statutes, regulates the disclosure of personal information from driver license and

vehicle records, such as name, address and medical/disability information. Unless an individual or entity

has a permissible use under these statutes to obtain your personal information, your permission or

consent is required for its release to all requesters and can be accomplished by checking the box below.

This consent is optional.

 

 

___ I consent to the release of personal information contained in my driver license and vehicle record.

I understand that this is not a one-time consent that applies only to a specific individual or organization,

but is instead a general consent that applies to all requests from any and all individuals or organizations

for any purpose, until revoked by me in writing. Consent for a vehicle record applies to all owners.

 

 

Does that really say anything at all beyond

"Yes we will, but no we won't, and if so it's your fault anyway"?

[RichCI]

Man, I hear you loud and clear. Just last night I was talking with a buddy of mine who is really involved with businesses and, to a lesser degree, lower levels of government in New Jersey. I asked him what a Country Freeholder does - not to be a prick or anything, I genuinely had no idea outside of seeing the guy's name in the paper once in a while. His reply - "Not much." I said, "It seems like all they do is cut ribbons at ceremonies once in a while" and he replied "That's pretty accurate."

 

I am so goddamn sick of wasteful, bullshit government spending that I want to puke. New Jersey isn't all that far behind California when it comes to this stuff. Did you know that in NJ the population is a little over 8 million residents and we have 700,000 state employees? That's nearly one per every resident or one per 2.5 households. WTF??????? What do these people do? There's a lower ratio of teachers to students in the friggin' classroom yet we need THAT many people maintaining one of the smallest states in the US?

 

I could go on and on, but it's the weekend and I'm just going to drop it now and relaxe.