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Council rejects mayor's proposed DMV fee increases
(Published May 3, 2004)

A D.C. City Council committee voted unanimously April 30 to strip several vehicle-related fee increases that were proposed by Mayor Anthony A. Williams from the city’s fiscal 2005 budget.

"I cannot support increasing [Department of Motor Vehicles] fees in a citywide budget that has grown by 7.3 percent," said Public Works Committee Chairwoman Carol Schwartz, R-At Large, who recommended that the committee reject the mayor’s proposal. "Our residents already pay enough to live here."

The mayor had proposed raising the annual cost of residential parking permits from $15 to $30, the fee for duplicate driver’s licenses and registrations from $7 to $10, and the charge for reinstatement of a driver’s license from $98 to $125. He also proposed raising annual fees for vehicle registrations from $28 to $148, depending on vehicle weight.

Schwartz said her committee identified $13 million in new revenue that is expected to be generated through performance improvements by retaining trained parking control aides. She said the budget approved by her committee would eliminate positions for parking control aides that the mayor’s administration has been unable to fill for years due to low paid and would allow salaries of trained workers to be increased in order to stop high turnover.

In addition to blocking the DMV fee increases, the committee voted to restore funding for picking up trash from public receptacles on weekends and after major events. Schwartz called the mayor’s suggestion that these services be eliminated "foolhardy" when the city "has made progress in reducing litter and combating rodent infestation."

The committee also voted to recommend that the full council apply part of the $13 million in newly identified revenue toward extending public library hours, funding special education classes for juvenile inmates, and blocking the mayor’s proposals for new taxes on healthcare providers and out-of-state municipal bonds held by D.C. residents.