Motorists Register Their Shock Over Whopping License Renewal Fee Hike

I am writing in response to the Street Smart column, “DMV Invites Help in Tagging Registration Scofflaws” (June 1), in which a reader complains about “an ever-increasing number of cars on the road with out-of-date license tags.”

The writer’s response may have been more appropriate in better economic times. Suggesting that citizens should turn in their neighbors with expired tags is akin to something that might have appeared in Nazi Germany of the 1930s.

Of greater significance is the hidden state tax increase buried in California’s vehicle registration fees. The following is an example of an increase that I would not have paid much attention to had I not read this article. The vehicle is a 1978 Mercedes-Benz: 1992, $72; 1993, $172. That’s a 139% increase in vehicle registration fees. No wonder people are driving around with expired tags.

The state has a multibillion-dollar deficit because it has driven business out of the state; now it’s going to make up the deficit on the backs of its already overburdened taxpayers. Good luck!

CHARLES G. MILDEN, Orange