Has anyone looked at all the money going out of state because people are licensing their vehicles in Oregon, Idaho, or Texas for that matter, actually you can set up an account in Texas just for this purpose They don,t mind the extra income. Oh,I know of this because the salesman at the RV lot where I bought my Itasca gave me the info I needed to do it. Another thing is what about the money that will be spent on other goods and services with the money saved on license fees? Sales in this stateare taxed at a considerably higher rate than your vehicles are. One would think that the money I saved on tabs would generate more revenue for the State then tabs are. Something to ponder.

-- Charles Boroughs (homebreww4uu@msn.com), October 17, 1999

Answers

can you say illegal? D.O.L. is cracking down on those games, you may not get caught, but you are cheating everyone else. Also, you are assuming that every dollar saved will be spent. calculating out how much of the money spent will turn over and be spent again and how much will go to out of state franchises is nearly imposible. state taxpayers will save around 468 mil. the state loses 500 mil, not to mention 500 mil lost from ref 49. if you take a very generous 8% sales tax of 468 mil, I can tell you that it will not spur the economy unless that money changes hands several times. Plus, there will be a loss of jobs. D.O.T. contracts out thousands of jobs, and those will not be there if a 1/3 of their revenue is lost, and I guarantee that those people laid off will not spend their $140 saved on tabs till they get another job.

-- tom nichols (nichols@hotmail.com), October 17, 1999.

Tom... I hate to bring this up,,,, but,, a few(or many) layoffs in DOT and fewer contracted jobs would be great, unless you work for WSDOT. This is half of the problem with MVET, WSDOT wastes more money than most people know about.

And not spending the money they save? heck, should be up to them to do with is as they please. Might just be worth something to save it for their old age. Then maybe they won't require as much help from the govt then.

-- rons (ron1@televar.com), October 19, 1999.

Further to Charles:

Washington State figures I have seen reported estimate that 100,000 Washingtonians license their vehicles in Oregon and Idaho, because, of course, fees in those states are much more reasonable. Just think, when 695 passes, there will automatically be 100,000 estimated fewer scofflaws for the state to worry about and try to prosecute. Compliance in the state will rise dramatically, and the resulting revenue will flow to the the state's coffers, not Idaho or Oregon. Americans are fundamentally a law-abiding people, but if they are asked to suffer an onerous or abusive law, they will find a way around it. 695 removes an abusive law.

Also, most of the saved money will be spent or saved in Washington. But why should it matter where the money is spent? The point is that the money will benefit a freer economy based on individual decision-making. People who earn their own money make the best decisions about how to spend it. Enjoy your Itasca.

By the way, I don't own any, but I understand that if you want a vanity license plate, or one with a university logo on it, there is a fee on top of the regular MVET you would pay. The extra fee goes to pay for wildlife enhancement or university-level scholarships.

Prediction: More vanity and university plates will be sold because with lower license fees, more people will feel able to contribute to worthy things like wildlife enhancement and scholarships. It will be another example of people doing the right thing, as they see it, when they are left with more of their money.

-- A.C. Johnson (ajohnson@thefuture.net), October 19, 1999.