Michigan has taken the first step toward repealing its tax on traffic ticket recipients. Last year, the state added $220 million worth of "driver responsibility fees" on top of existing fines for various sorts of moving violations. The legislature agreed to eliminate three separate taxes, saving 100,428 drivers $23.6 million a year. The partial repeal bill hit the desk of Governor Rick Snyder (R) yesterday. Snyder will enact the measure.
The driver responsibility program imposes a fee of $300 to $2000 on certain driving offenses, collected in two annual installments. In addition, it imposes an annual tax of $100 to $500 a year for anyone with more than seven points on his license. Drivers hit with the massive fees frequently found themselves unable to afford them. The program mandated that their license be suspended -- generating another fee. The net result was a 42 percent jump in the number of suspended licenses and a more than tenfold increase in people driving without insurance
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