Operating a motor vehicle is an expensive proposition. Gas prices continue to rise and seldom drop and maintaining one’s vehicle in a safe, operating condition can be costly.
A car or a truck is no longer a luxury and hasn’t been for many, many years. They are necessities required for most working people.
A fairer solution would be to require an owner to register his or her motor vehicle at the time of purchase and leave it at that. If the vehicle is sold, then that buyer would have to re-register the vehicle. But government should not hit the same owner year after year with vehicle registration fees.
Vehicle registration is nothing more than a cash grab by the provincial government.
On Prince Edward Island, the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal collects about $10 million a year from vehicle registration.
The government says the revenue is reinvested in programs and services for Islanders, which include road maintenance and safety.
It would be a better policy for the province to let that $10 million remain in the hands of Islanders that could be spent in local communities, helping business and improving job prospects. Every government will tell you that it is small business that creates jobs in a community. It would be a sound investment.
Municipalities also maintain roads and provide programs and services for residents but they do not have the luxury of collecting millions of dollars in vehicle registration charges. It’s a matter of checking priorities and eliminating government influence from the pockets of Islanders.
In addition, the province not only collects the registration fees, but also the taxes on the fuel drivers put into their motor vehicles.
With the importance of transportation in the everyday lives of Islanders, government could give us a break and change its vehicle registration policy.
Annual safety inspection requirements are a different matter. They ensure vehicles on the road are operating properly. These need to be done on a regular basis because all Islanders want to be safe and feel safe on the roadways – fair enough.
