Fascist Georgia DMVS outlaws kit cars and custom motorcycles!

[athens550]

The Georgia Department of Revenue/DMVS has enacted a policy banning the issuance of titles on all new and used kit cars (including Super Sevens!), and custom motorcycles, including ones with existing out of state titles. Legislation is in committee in the Georgia House of Representatives to redress this injustice; here is the link:
http://www.legis.ga.gov/legis/2007_08/search/hb950.htm
Here is the way to contact your state representatives:
http://www.legis.state.ga.us/
Whether you own a kit car or custom motorcycle, you intend to one day, or you're an enthusiast, if you live in Georgia, please contact your elected officials and ask them to support this legislation.
Thanks

[ZAMMY1]

those bastards!

[GreatNeckLawyer]

OK, then where can we find Georgia Residents selling their now undriveable Kit Cars at big discounts ?????

Seriously, that is a shame. I gues the states which neighbor Georgia are going to see a hugh increase in Kit Car Registrations.

ANDY

[Thalen]

Don't forget Georgia's Fascist "Ad Valorum" tax on your car registration. Having your tag renewal fee based on the value of your car is total BS! Punishing someone every year for owning an expensive car is not justifiable in any way. A car is a car and one that is 100K doesn't cause a bigger burden on the streets than a 20K one. You already took the expensive car hit in State Sales Tax when you bought it. That should be enough. I was paying about $650 per year to renew the Elise's plate. Compare that to, say, FL where it's about $40 no matter what your car is. Thank goodness I just moved to WA which doesn't have that Ad Valorum either.

[cstetter]

Wow - so there actually IS a state that's worse than CA for drivers...

[Vishus_1]

Wow That's crazy.

What is the point behind this? Isn't there anything better to make laws about or regulate?

What is also disturbing is that if Georgia gets away with this, who's next. Seems like states just jump on the bandwagon when other states come up with something. It's like these stop light camera's and now speed limit camera's.

Our legislators priorities sure are out of whack - they can sit around and think up this kind of senseless garbage and how to keep the average Joe in check but we can't keep our ports, planes or own country safe. This kind of stuff just makes me sick.

[knucklehead]

Originally Posted by Vishus_1

Wow That's crazy.

What is the point behind this? Isn't there anything better to make laws about or regulate?

What is also disturbing is that if Georgia gets away with this, who's next. Seems like states just jump on the bandwagon when other states come up with something. It's like these stop light camera's and now speed limit camera's.

Our legislators priorities sure are out of whack - they can sit around and think up this kind of senseless garbage and how to keep the average Joe in check but we can't keep our ports, planes or own country safe. This kind of stuff just makes me sick.

At least I understand the cameras. Makes it appear to be "safer", but the reality is that the state or city makes $$$$. Out lawing kit cars achieves nothing. Unless I'm missing something.

[tmr]

Just wrote my Representative, as one of my good friends has a Superformance Cobra. It's a fantastic car that he has quite a bit of money tied up in. I also sent him an email letting him know what's going on.

[DragonRider1]

Originally Posted by Thalen

Don't forget Georgia's Fascist "Ad Valorum" tax on your car registration. Having your tag renewal fee based on the value of your car is total BS! Punishing someone every year for owning an expensive car is not justifiable in any way. A car is a car and one that is 100K doesn't cause a bigger burden on the streets than a 20K one. You already took the expensive car hit in State Sales Tax when you bought it. That should be enough. I was paying about $650 per year to renew the Elise's plate. Compare that to, say, FL where it's about $40 no matter what your car is. Thank goodness I just moved to WA which doesn't have that Ad Valorum either.

When I lived in Wa ('89-95) they DID have the Ad Valorum taxes. It wasn't too long ago that they were repealed. My new (at the time) '93 Grand Cherokee was $$$ to keep tagged. I can't remember my '88 Carrera Cabrio but I remember two people telling me my tags were more than their cars...

[SweetDaddyD]

Just paid my GA tags. $360.72 for the car, $46.91 for the bike (which only costs $75 a year to insure)

[Westrock]

Ya I really don't see the purpose here. Your talking about a very small percentage of the population, and these are vehicles that very likely see much less street time then a normal automobile. The only logical reason I can think of is for pollution (both sound and exhaust), but again your talking about a very small percentage of the population and vehicles that aren't operated as frequently.

The custom bikes I can kind of understand, because they have a large following....but honestly, how many kit cars do you see on the road (anywhere)?

If anything, the biggest impact will be the loss of revenue to the state from registration, taxes, and insurance....plus the loss of jobs associated with these products....which eventually means less revenue from taxes.


Unless there is a very pecular case of poeple using the kit car exemption to launder otherwise non-sellable vehicles.

[TimMullen]

Originally Posted by Thalen

Having your tag renewal fee based on the value of your car is total BS! Punishing someone every year for owning an expensive car is not justifiable in any way.

Wow, I'm glad that Virginia does it differently. Here, we pay a small fee to register our cars - it's the same price for all cars.

Then once a year, we have to pay our Property Tax bill - it varies for each car depending on (wait for it) the value of the car.

It's much better this way as we get to fill out the government forms twice a year and mail in the payment twice a year instead of only once...

Sorry, but it's common for states to tax the value of your car - either by a separate tax or bundled with the registration. It works out the same in the end.

[John]

I don't miss Virginia property tax whatsoever. California registration fees are reasonable, but my truck registration is $350 because of it's weight. In the end, it costs about half the price to have my car "legal" for the road in California as opposed to NoVA. Then there's your income tax, however, CA has many more exemption / deduction opportunities than VA. In the end, it actually ends up being the same.

[ChrisB]

Originally Posted by John

I don't miss Virginia property tax whatsoever. California registration fees are reasonable, but my truck registration is $350 because of it's weight. In the end, it costs about half the price to have my car "legal" for the road in California as opposed to NoVA. Then there's your income tax, however, CA has many more exemption / deduction opportunities than VA. In the end, it actually ends up being the same.

Yeah...increasing the tax portion of the CA registration cost Gov. Gray Davis his job. People here were a little sensitive about that. It's still not cheap (or non-existent), but it isn't too bad either.

[shay2nak]

that is bullsh*t

[PhlypSide]

"Ad Valorum" license/registration fees are just straight up robbery. WTF? How do they know how much your car is worth?

What if you had a collision as you drove off the dealer lot and your new car was repaired. Are they still going to tax you as though there was no diminished value?

[pla_time]

Originally Posted by PhlypSide

"Ad Valorum" license/registration fees are just straight up robbery. WTF? How do they know how much your car is worth?

What if you had a collision as you drove off the dealer lot and your new car was repaired. Are they still going to tax you as though there was no diminished value?

Here ya go:

http://www.etax.dor.ga.gov/AdValorem/Default.aspx

I never reseached it, but the tax seems to be figured mainly as a function of the cost of the car when it was new, and the age of the car, and by a millage rate which depends on the county of registration and so on.

Some states have "personal property" taxes, others have something like this -- not much difference. On the other hand, when I moved to Georgia from Minnesota about a decade ago, the property taxes on my house dropped about 30%, so even with the Ad Valorem Assessment, it wasn't a big difference. (Of course, the schools, parks, etc. are quite different.....)

In general, if you don't like the taxes in your current state, there are no passport control offices between your state and others (except Alaska), or heaven forbid, you could run for office and fix these pesky taxes.

Here's a nice website with individual tax rates by state:

Georgia is 1% to 6%, not as cheap as Alaska, Florida, or Nevada etc., but much less than other states, depending on your bracket.

http://www.taxadmin.org/fta/rate/ind_inc.html

[eliseowner2b]

When is Rev. Al Sharpton going to step in?

[lotusforsale]

Originally Posted by pla_time

Here ya go:

http://www.etax.dor.ga.gov/AdValorem/Default.aspx

I never reseached it, but the tax seems to be figured mainly as a function of the cost of the car when it was new, and the age of the car, and by a millage rate which depends on the county of registration and so on.

Some states have "personal property" taxes, others have something like this -- not much difference. On the other hand, when I moved to Georgia from Minnesota about a decade ago, the property taxes on my house dropped about 30%, so even with the Ad Valorem Assessment, it wasn't a big difference. (Of course, the schools, parks, etc. are quite different.....)

In general, if you don't like the taxes in your current state, there are no passport control offices between your state and others (except Alaska), or heaven forbid, you could run for office and fix these pesky taxes.

Here's a nice website with individual tax rates by state:

Georgia is 1% to 6%, not as cheap as Alaska, Florida, or Nevada etc., but much less than other states, depending on your bracket.

http://www.taxadmin.org/fta/rate/ind_inc.html

Florida makes up for a lack of state income tax by outrageous taxes on everything else, especially real estate. I 'love' Kissimee. The sales tax varies 1% on opposite sides of a highway.

[athens550]

Supposedly, the reason for the change was fear of legal liability against the state if someone was involved in an accident with one of these non-federally compliant vehicles. The reality is that most kit cars are high end, expensive investments owned by conscientious, well insured people who maintain their vehicles and drive them safely, unlike many of the 'normal' pieces of uninsured junk driven by unlicensed drivers in Georgia, due to our lack of state inspection laws and teeth in the laws punishing uninsured and unlicensed drivers.

The bill has been favorably reported by the Motor Vehicle Division committee, and now heads to the full House. Thanks to any and all who have contacted their representatives asking them to support this legislation.