Registration fees at the Bureau of Motor Vehicles will decrease for more than two million Hoosiers next year.
Governor Pence says his administration has been working for years to correct errors and problems at the BMV. Those issues have generated lawsuit settlements and overcharge repayments that exceed one hundred million dollars. Pence says a huge step forward in solving those problems is legislation that streamlines the agency’s fee and registration system.
“Approximately two-point-one million Hoosiers will see fee decreases as a result of this legislation,” says Pence. “It reduces or eliminates 163 different registration fees. It simplifies the fee structure so that it’s consistent and predictable.”
Eight fees will increase – seven affecting for-hire buses and one for commercial semi-trailers. Those changes will take effect January 1st.
While an overwhelming, bipartisan majority of lawmakers approved the measure, one of its architects, Democratic Representative Dan Forestal (Indianapolis), is now disavowing the bill. He says GOP legislators included what he calls “earmarks” into the bill at the last minute, including one that allows rental car companies to increase fees. For Indiana Public Broadcasting, I’m Brandon Smith at the Statehouse.
