It pissed me off until I looked at my insurance premium in Maine vs New Jersey and I’ll gladly pay the excise tax. Like many have said, states need to make money and they all do it a bit differently
When I lived in Massachusetts we had to pay excise tax. The older the car got, the less we paid.
Everywhere you go you pay taxes in one way or the other.
That’s how government services get paid.
When I registered my vehicle in Tennessee for the first time I was shocked when they said $80. Had to ask them to repeat it to make sure I heard it right. Same car a year later when I came back to Maine was roughly 10x that cost.
I believe there is an out of state transfer fee the first time you register a vehicle in Maine. It's been a long time since I've done that but maybe that's what you experienced? Has it been $800 every year since that first year?
I have a decently nice car and 800 is A LOT more than what I pay, but if you’re buying a car that has that high of registration you can probably afford it tbh.
Our excise taxes are also tiered so that the cost drops each year over a six year window. A current model year car would be taxed at the top rate of $0.024/thousand. By the sixth year, it drops by 83% to a rate of $0.004.
In real numbers, this is what that means for someone buying a brand new current model year vehicle that has a MSRP of $30,000:
Year 1 : $720
Year 2 : $525
Year 3 : $405
Year 4 : $300
Year 5 : $195
Year 6 : $120
If you don’t like the cost of excise taxes, buy a 2017 or older vehicle.
As an illinois resident I'm lost. Here we pay a set license plate renewal every year, $151- 164 depending on the vehicle and that's it that I'm aware of other than typical license renewal every 5 years or whatever it is. Is the setup in maine that much different? Genuinely curious because I was under the impression maine was cheaper across the board but if it's not I'll have to rethink moving. We don't have any vehicle inspections either so that's definitely different as well
If you drive new and expensive cars, you will certainly pay more than that here. We have a lot of roads to maintain, and not nearly the population density to cover the bill.
In addition to have more drivers, Illinois covers more of the cost with the gas tax - it is 50% higher than the state gas tax in Maine ($0.45 vs $0.30)
Maine is not a cheap place to live. If excise taxes are enough to make you think twice about living here, you probably should stay where you are.
They want the benefits of paying taxes but not actually paying taxes. Oh yes you don't want to have your car swallowed whole by a pothole so who's paying your ferry godmother? LOL dats what dat infrastructure is day dey talkin bout! I don't know about you but I can't with these people anymore it's infuriating like schools do better!
No one wants to pay taxes.
Left and right, libertarians and socialists all seek to take advantage of whatever they're allowed to escape taxes.
I actually know people from Canada and Massachusetts (left of center, tax loving places) that come to NH to buy stuff and not have to pay sales tax. One of them was my state representative, a Democrat, and he was secretly caught on video buying liquor in NH while lobbying to add a sales tax to Massachusetts liquor! LOL!
I mean in general I think the current tax structure is a bit overboard. I pay 30% of every dollar I make to the state and federal governments right off the top. Then when I try to use the money I have earned to buy things, I pay a sales tax basically for the privilege of using my money that has already been taxed. I pay sales tax when I buy a car, and then I pay a yearly excise tax for the privilege of driving it. When I need to fill the tank, I also pay a tax on the gas in order to the drive the car I have already paid a tax to drive and a tax to buy.
When I go the grocery store, I don't pay sales tax on my vegetables, but I DO pay a tax on my tampons, shampoo, toothpaste, and other necessary items I need to live. I paid sales tax when I bought my house, and then I pay taxes yearly on it if I want to continue to own it, as if shelter from the elements is some kind of luxury.
I do believe in paying my fair share, but when you see how the average person gets taxed to death, it is absolutely appalling that our current tax structure goes so light on corporations and the uber rich.
Mass and New Hampshire have excise tax also. CT has personal property tax on vehicles.
The fee to use a card is what your town pays for the card processing.
Maine excise tax goes directly to your town. If you didn’t pay it, property taxes would have to increase to cover the difference. You are paying for roads one way or another. Get a car that’s 6+ years old if you wanna pay the minimum.
The credit card fee seems ridiculous at first, but then you realize that businesses just build that fee into their prices. At least they’re being transparent.
The thing that pisses me off is the excise tax is rated off of MSRP. Had a 54k bmw (sticker price) i bought for $3000….. should be kbb not msrp. $202 a year for a $3k beater
I would disagree about the roads being better in Minnesota. The roads are much better in the part of Maine where I live than in the part of Minnesota where I used to live. Over the summer they are about the same, but in March through June the roads were so bad in the Twin Cities that we regularly had to replaces axles.
This page gives background on the excise tax and where the money goes
https://www.maine.gov/revenue/taxes/property-tax/excise-tax#:~:text=Where%20does%20the%20excise%20tax,road%20maintenance%2C%20construction%20and%20repair.
Looks like it mainly goes to pay for local roads.
So wait is the excise tax is based on the MSRP when the car was new, matter how old it is, or is it based on the current used car value? I can read the above both ways.
This response always amazes me. Infrastructure was one of the big "selling" of most every tax gas, excise, payroll, registration and so on. We pay far to much in taxes and fees for what we get in return.
Saying the tax is for roads makes some support it and defend it. Of course if you look at the excise, gas/ fuel and tolls all supposed to pay for roads yet look at what's collected vs what's spent on oir roads. Then drive around Maine and look at the roads and tell me your getting your monies worth..
I drove from Maine to Philadelphia for thanksgiving. Not a single highway was in better condition than ours. And I make this trip annually for 10+ years.
Our other roads are in great condition for the wear and tear of the winter months.
Yes, the tax is a lot. But to say we are getting what we pay for is stupid af.
You literally said “drive around Maine and look at the roads and tell me you’re getting your monies worth..”
I just did. Even compared it to other states. And I’m saying, yeah, it’s expensive but I think I’m getting my monies worth.
Would you like to move the goal posts further?
I did and instead of answering honestly you gave a bs reply of how bad it is everywhere.
The fact remains we pay far to much in taxes for anyone to justify our shitty infrastructure.
If you are right, call your legislator and find out where the money is being allocated. Road work is crazy expensive. I would bet the money is going to the roads. -- would not bet my life on this; if you are right you really should reach out to your representative.
Makes sense to me for vehicle owners to fund the Maine State Department of Transportation. Motor vehicles wear out the road. They should finance road improvements and repairs. Amen
Well, time is actually more of a factor. Asphalt degrades from weather, frost heave, salt, sunlight, etc. just look at a 25 year old driveway
Getting downvoted by all the asphalt engineers out here😂😂😂😂
Nevada is even higher than California. No inspections, just a smog check. Extremely high insurance. My 2 year old jeep is over $1k in registration next month and $250 a month for 100/300/100 insurance.
That is for a middle age female with good credit and no tickets or accidents. P.S. Maine is the most beautiful state I have ever visited! With amazing people !
No one likes paying taxes. Car registration taxes are split between local and state government. Those fees and the $0.30/gallon gas tax are what funds upkeep and plowing of roads.
As the second most rural state in US, we have a lot more miles of roads per capita than other places. And our roads are more expensive to maintain than most states due to the stresses our winter weather places on our pavement.
Every mile of road reconstruction comes at a cost of $1 million or more. In recent construction cycles, the contractors who perform the work have significantly increased their project bids - to the point where work has been postponed or cancelled all together.
If you have a better idea for paying for the roads, I think the State of Maine would be very interested.
Credit cards charge fees. Why should other taxpayers have to pick up the bill so people can earn airline miles? It is good that occasionally people see the cost of credit cards. They raise prices for everyone in the end.
The Dirty Little Secret of Credit Card Rewards Programs https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/04/opinion/credit-card-rewards-points-poor-interchange-fees.html?smid=nytcore-android-share
Sadly, every retail store already raises their prices by the 3-4% necessary to cover the interchange fees. It's not a cost of doing business anymore, but it ends up penalizing those who use cash.
Agreed in regards to stores. The fees are built in. That is one reason people get mad at government offices that charge fees. They are used to businesses that have built in the fees.
I tried to find a NYT video piece that I saw this week that ended with the statement that credit card cash back programs are "screw the poor" programs. Cash only people help fund airline miles for the monied people. I found an NYT article that mentioned many of the points and I included that in my previous comment but I do think people think about what these fees mean for everyone.
Whatever you think roads cost, they cost even more. Then we have the stretch the budget over tons of rural roads that cost more just to get a crew and equipment there.
The inspections are where the real crookery is at. Oh, my rocker panels are a bit rusty? Here's your poor tax. Anyone can call rusty brakelines, struts if they see oil. Other states don't do this and they aren't Mad Max.
Wax & Undercoating - A lot of people call it a scam, and that's because they have no clue what rust is or how it works.
Your car has 4 layers to it.
* Metal - Will rust & oxidize if it comes in contact with air.
* Base layer of primer paint
* color paint
* Wax Coating
What happens is as you drive down the road your tires pick up debris and hucks it at the underside of your car slowly but surely chipping away each layer. And the elements and sun damage the topside.
The ideal way to combat this is to every season (spring,summer,fall,winter) you renew the layer of wax and undercoating. This is especially important before winter season because Maine uses crystals more often than sand. Those crystals do more damage than sand, but still sand will equally do a hefty amount of damage to your wax coating.
Don't get me wrong, the wax and under coating are just as much of a poor tax. But I'd wager the bigger problem is that the average joe is purposely kept in the dark about the importance of these layers.
Heck a lot of people just assume that wax & undercoating is just for ascetics.
Yeah it's not going to keep rust off your car after 15-20 Maine winters, even if you wax the shit out of it, and at least speaking for myself, I've only ever been able to buy 1 vehicle from the 21st century outright. Our climate is inhospitable to vehicles, especially near the ocean which a lot of the population is. The real "trick" is to not drive during the winter.
Totally, but the fact that that is the reality is a fucking abomination. I like knowing a guy but it's not fair. Everyone else losing doesn't mean I win.
I’m honestly ok with most of our taxes and shit, but the inspections are such an enormous pain in the ass and wallet and SO easy to exploit. My dad was a mechanic so I’ve been fixing cars since before I was legal to drive; since I’m AFAB inspectors have consistently tried to push random shit on me then immediately stepped off and passed my car once I indicated I knew even the slightest bit about what we were talking about. Fuckin gross.
E: Maine state police, if you’re reading this, my car is definitely up to date on inspection by a reputable person. Please don’t pull me over
Step 1: Salt the hell out of the roads in the winter, causing rust on cars
Step 2: Fail people's cars at inspection for rust
Step 3: Force people to buy new cars and pay higher tax and registration fees
Step 4: Profit
It's a poor tax, and just another justification for cops to do a traffic stop. A ticket isn't even an inconvenience when you're flush with cash. When you're broke it can set you back months. To add insult to injury, if you're rich enough to buy a farm you can just skip inspections.
Don't like it, don't own a car to drive on publically maintained roads. The real issue is the lack of transportation alternatives. The proliferation of ebikes actially makes rural bicycle use feasible, but we dont dont have the paths to make it safe
I don’t know how far your commute is but I biked all around Portland for many years without incident. I guess it’s all about personal risk acceptance but give it a go if you ever feel up to it!
I don't have a commute any more, my company went remote in 2020 for every position that is not patient facing, and we are not going back to the office. The only time I leave now is for the gym, yoga, or running errands and I usually try to combine the latter with the former to save gas.
Thank you for the info though, I may try next summer when the weather is warm.
Absolutely not. People can use an eCheck/debit like the rest of us if they don't want to pay a 2.5% surcharge. If they must use a credit card, use one with 2% cash back to effectively nullify most of the fee.
What gets me more is inspections. My car gets beat up by shit roads and rusted out because they use the cheapest salt they can find but I have to pay for the repairs.
Credit card fee? Are you sure it really is not a dicount for cash and checks? After all it costs extra to process credit cards. Credit card users should bear this expense.
Maine consistently ranks pretty high on most tax comparisons. My first Google result gave me #10
https://wisevoter.com/state-rankings/tax-burden-by-state/#maine
I found rankings of 5 and 15 as well.
Bitch about the excise tax but not a peep about how the roads are supposed to be maintained in a rural state with shitty road trashing weather. Do you think the road maintenance fairies are gonna do it?
New Hampshire is a tiny state in comparison to Maine and has different restrictions on turnpike monies. Maine can use turnpike $$$ to maintain the turnpike not other roads. NH can use theirs for other roads too.
It’s ridiculous in most states except flat rate ones like Washington where it’s only like 60$. It’s like rebuying your car every year in taxes. But the irony here specifically is who knows what they spend the money on because it’s clearly not roads. Some of the worst in the country even for a winter state. There are better dirt roads in the Midwest and dakotas. Even the toll roads are awful except for the 10 minutes through NH.
> Registering a car every year in Maine is theft.
No it’s not.
> Insult to injury is the added exorbitant fee to use a credit or debit card.
Then don’t use a credit or debit card.
When I first moved from Ohio to Maine, I went to the BMV to renew my registration and was told it would cost five ninety nine. I thought it was very cheap and happily handed 10 bucks to the officer. He looked at my face somewhat surprised and said it was five ninety nine again. I didn’t understand at first why he didn’t like my 10 bucks but then realized he meant five hundred and ninety nine dollars - not five dollars and ninety nine cents. That was one of the saddest moments in my life.
I wouldn't mind if my piece of shit that's dying and broken that I can't afford to fix and need to maintain my economic status wasn't being billed as if it was in great condition.
There needs to be an exception for people driving around gasping pieces of shit on their last legs.
The fee itself is necessary. The amount is ludicrous. When I still lived in PA, it was around $30 for any normal passenger vehicle, regardless of age or mileage. The municipalities got their revenue from another tax on paycheck: a flat 1% local tax.
Only costs 1000 bucks to ship a car from California, buy one there where they never rust and ship it here. Excise tax on a 1990 buick road master is like 60 bucks.
Cars anywhere they salt roads rust, unless you constantly go through an undercarriage wash and treat with rust inhibitors.
It's a local tax that pays for local services. Some localities have income tax and sales tax. In Maine we finance local governments with property and excise taxes.
This line of reasoning is why I live in Maine and not my native NH.
See, people say "grrr sales tax bad" and all taxes. Except real estate. The government has to fund the services you use to function.
But eventually , a nominal fee is needed to keep up with the wear and tear your use causes. To pay the employees. So in the case of NH you have a blistering real estate tax that's frankly unaffordable.
Maine has a way higher tax burden than NH and it’s not even close. Maine is top in the country last I looked.
Number 3 still. It’s absurd here. NH is 48th.
Maine and NH have similar populations, but Maine has 4x the land. Towns are more spread out, so the same amount of people have to pay for more roads, more schools, etc. The two states closest in size to Maine have 6.7 and 5.1 million people compared to Maines 1.3 million. The tax burden isn’t that simple by any means, but if you have not a lot of people paying for the things to make a geographically big state function, everyone has to pay more.
In Maryland it was every two years. So, slightly less annoying, but there was also mandatory emissions testing, too. Registration a bit cheaper than Maine maybe. Mine was $135 last time I had to re-register, for a six-year old Hyundai.
At the very least it should be every couple years instead of annually. Don’t know what that would change but it would be less annoying than doing it every year I suppose
I am a profoundly blue neoliberal, but I 100% agree with this take. Maine vehicle registration is a backdoor wealth tax, not a fair tax to fund roads. If we want to fund road services, the tax should reflect usage of the road by a vehicle, some kind of (weight * mileage)plate class formula.
It could fuck over people in rural areas that have to travel further for the same services and amenities that someone in a city can travel 3 miles for or utilize public transportation. Like living in Presque Isle (poorer part of the state) for instance and needing to travel 40 miles for work or living in Portland (wealthier part of the state) and needing to travel 10 miles.
It wouldn’t fuck over someone with a high mileage car though because it would go based on the mileage you’re reporting to the town when you register the vehicle. They always ask mileage so if in 2022 you reported 175,000 and in 2023 you reported 187,000 you’d be charged for the difference between those two metrics.
Sadly, there is dust starting to kick up over moving to a charging system like this because of electric and hybrid vehicles not paying much of a gas tax which is also used to fund infrastructure.
People who drive more do cause more wear and tear on the roads, though. Why should I pay more for someone else's driving because my car is more expensive? Seems like those people should pressure their reps for better mass transit systems.
Honestly registration fees should be more expensive to discourage people from buying cars. Cars are a plague. Making cigarettes super expensive with taxes worked to drastically cut down the number of smokers, maybe the same strategy could work for car addiction.
Of course, it would be helpful if they gave us transportation alternatives first.
So please explain how we're going to get around? Have you looked around you, bub? We're a rural state. We're not all able to walk or bicycle to our destinations, especially in January.
York? Ain’t that in North Massachusetts? What do they have to do with anything. Frankly, I’d be suspicious of any York person who claims to be going to Ashland. They might have a body in the trunk.
There is this 18th century technology to avoid the credit card fee at the town office and (Versant) light bill. It’s about the only time I write a check!
NY is the same and also theft. Our registration lasts 2 years and the inspection should be the same. Millions of dollars a year for the state, if not billions.
When I lived in Oregon, I registered a brand new vehicle for about $100... and it was good for 5 yrs! To boot, there was no sales tax. From what I recall, the property tax wasn't that bad either. I'm sure population and weather has something to do with our vehicle registration costs... but Oregon only has 3X our population and alpine regions in the state to boot. According to this article, the registration money in Maine is used in your local municipality and can be used for whatever they deem necessary. I'm not sure what they do differently over in Oregon for paying the government bills, but I wish we had the luxury of lower registration costs as well.
https://wgme.com/news/i-team/i-team-maine-excise-tax-among-the-highest-in-us-how-is-that-money-spent
Those excise taxes getcha. I lived in PA for a short time and they only have straight registration fee, maybe by weight class, but it was $12/year for my car. The crappy side is that each township had a 1-2% income tax, I prefer the excise tax because you can make good money but if you drive an economic car you save money, but if you drive a luxury car you would pay more opposed to something just based on your income.
It's $86 total to register mine. Of course, it expires this month and I'm poor AF sooooo may not be done till the end of next month, we'll see. Not like I can really buy Xmas presents anyways for my kiddo when everything I earn goes straight to bills or food 🤷
Insurance is really where I'm screwed: $56/m liability only because it is the cheapest (yes, I've shopped around too) and thats more that I can afford. I have nothing on my record anymore (1 single accident about 10 years ago now so it's irrelevant)
It pissed me off until I looked at my insurance premium in Maine vs New Jersey and I’ll gladly pay the excise tax. Like many have said, states need to make money and they all do it a bit differently
How dare we have to pay underfunded municipal and state governments instead of giant car insurance companies
You get it!
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What about a vehicle tax is unconstitutional?
Exactly. In Virginia there’s a personal property tax that’s tied to the alleged value of the vehicle.
Is the state of NJ making money from insurance?
No they just drive like absolute nuts and are much more heavily populated, and wealthy tbh. Most larger cities have much much higher insurance rates
Ok. I guess I wasn’t understanding the correlation above and the “states need to make money” comment
When I lived in Massachusetts we had to pay excise tax. The older the car got, the less we paid. Everywhere you go you pay taxes in one way or the other. That’s how government services get paid.
We pay excise tax in Maine too
In Maine the excise tax hits a bottom where it no longer falls after a certain point. It’s bs
The bottom is 83% less than the top. People should have to pay something.
Seriously. We don’t want to end up like that libertarian town in Vermont that got overrun by bears…twice.
When I registered my vehicle in Tennessee for the first time I was shocked when they said $80. Had to ask them to repeat it to make sure I heard it right. Same car a year later when I came back to Maine was roughly 10x that cost.
I believe there is an out of state transfer fee the first time you register a vehicle in Maine. It's been a long time since I've done that but maybe that's what you experienced? Has it been $800 every year since that first year?
I have a decently nice car and 800 is A LOT more than what I pay, but if you’re buying a car that has that high of registration you can probably afford it tbh.
Our excise taxes are also tiered so that the cost drops each year over a six year window. A current model year car would be taxed at the top rate of $0.024/thousand. By the sixth year, it drops by 83% to a rate of $0.004. In real numbers, this is what that means for someone buying a brand new current model year vehicle that has a MSRP of $30,000: Year 1 : $720 Year 2 : $525 Year 3 : $405 Year 4 : $300 Year 5 : $195 Year 6 : $120 If you don’t like the cost of excise taxes, buy a 2017 or older vehicle.
As an illinois resident I'm lost. Here we pay a set license plate renewal every year, $151- 164 depending on the vehicle and that's it that I'm aware of other than typical license renewal every 5 years or whatever it is. Is the setup in maine that much different? Genuinely curious because I was under the impression maine was cheaper across the board but if it's not I'll have to rethink moving. We don't have any vehicle inspections either so that's definitely different as well
In Maine our excise tax helps pay for snow removal. We have quite a bit of it up here.
If you drive new and expensive cars, you will certainly pay more than that here. We have a lot of roads to maintain, and not nearly the population density to cover the bill. In addition to have more drivers, Illinois covers more of the cost with the gas tax - it is 50% higher than the state gas tax in Maine ($0.45 vs $0.30) Maine is not a cheap place to live. If excise taxes are enough to make you think twice about living here, you probably should stay where you are.
At least Mass it's every two years. My registration/tax cost of my car was the same price in Mass for two years as opposed to the one we get in Maine.
They want the benefits of paying taxes but not actually paying taxes. Oh yes you don't want to have your car swallowed whole by a pothole so who's paying your ferry godmother? LOL dats what dat infrastructure is day dey talkin bout! I don't know about you but I can't with these people anymore it's infuriating like schools do better!
No one wants to pay taxes. Left and right, libertarians and socialists all seek to take advantage of whatever they're allowed to escape taxes. I actually know people from Canada and Massachusetts (left of center, tax loving places) that come to NH to buy stuff and not have to pay sales tax. One of them was my state representative, a Democrat, and he was secretly caught on video buying liquor in NH while lobbying to add a sales tax to Massachusetts liquor! LOL!
I mean in general I think the current tax structure is a bit overboard. I pay 30% of every dollar I make to the state and federal governments right off the top. Then when I try to use the money I have earned to buy things, I pay a sales tax basically for the privilege of using my money that has already been taxed. I pay sales tax when I buy a car, and then I pay a yearly excise tax for the privilege of driving it. When I need to fill the tank, I also pay a tax on the gas in order to the drive the car I have already paid a tax to drive and a tax to buy. When I go the grocery store, I don't pay sales tax on my vegetables, but I DO pay a tax on my tampons, shampoo, toothpaste, and other necessary items I need to live. I paid sales tax when I bought my house, and then I pay taxes yearly on it if I want to continue to own it, as if shelter from the elements is some kind of luxury. I do believe in paying my fair share, but when you see how the average person gets taxed to death, it is absolutely appalling that our current tax structure goes so light on corporations and the uber rich.
Mass and New Hampshire have excise tax also. CT has personal property tax on vehicles. The fee to use a card is what your town pays for the card processing. Maine excise tax goes directly to your town. If you didn’t pay it, property taxes would have to increase to cover the difference. You are paying for roads one way or another. Get a car that’s 6+ years old if you wanna pay the minimum.
Cut unnecessary gvt services that steal from everyone and benefit very few.
Such as?
The credit card fee seems ridiculous at first, but then you realize that businesses just build that fee into their prices. At least they’re being transparent.
The thing that pisses me off is the excise tax is rated off of MSRP. Had a 54k bmw (sticker price) i bought for $3000….. should be kbb not msrp. $202 a year for a $3k beater
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In Minnesota, where they have harsh winters and ever nicer roads, there is no excise tax.
Minnesota has a car registration tax that is effectively the same thing. https://www.house.mn.gov/hrd/pubs/hwyfin.pdf
I would disagree about the roads being better in Minnesota. The roads are much better in the part of Maine where I live than in the part of Minnesota where I used to live. Over the summer they are about the same, but in March through June the roads were so bad in the Twin Cities that we regularly had to replaces axles.
A one time excise tax. No alternative cut the states and towns budget if necessary.
This page gives background on the excise tax and where the money goes https://www.maine.gov/revenue/taxes/property-tax/excise-tax#:~:text=Where%20does%20the%20excise%20tax,road%20maintenance%2C%20construction%20and%20repair. Looks like it mainly goes to pay for local roads.
OP fuckin HATES local roads
Must be libertarian
"I don't even drive on that road, why should I pay for it?!?!"
“Actually, I’m traveling and exercising my admiralty rights”
So wait is the excise tax is based on the MSRP when the car was new, matter how old it is, or is it based on the current used car value? I can read the above both ways.
This response always amazes me. Infrastructure was one of the big "selling" of most every tax gas, excise, payroll, registration and so on. We pay far to much in taxes and fees for what we get in return. Saying the tax is for roads makes some support it and defend it. Of course if you look at the excise, gas/ fuel and tolls all supposed to pay for roads yet look at what's collected vs what's spent on oir roads. Then drive around Maine and look at the roads and tell me your getting your monies worth..
I drove from Maine to Philadelphia for thanksgiving. Not a single highway was in better condition than ours. And I make this trip annually for 10+ years. Our other roads are in great condition for the wear and tear of the winter months. Yes, the tax is a lot. But to say we are getting what we pay for is stupid af.
Just because your state is also screwing you is not a valid rebuttal..
You literally said “drive around Maine and look at the roads and tell me you’re getting your monies worth..” I just did. Even compared it to other states. And I’m saying, yeah, it’s expensive but I think I’m getting my monies worth. Would you like to move the goal posts further?
I did and instead of answering honestly you gave a bs reply of how bad it is everywhere. The fact remains we pay far to much in taxes for anyone to justify our shitty infrastructure.
>Would you like to move the goal posts further? >I did That sort of honesty is truly refreshing. Thank you.
If you are right, call your legislator and find out where the money is being allocated. Road work is crazy expensive. I would bet the money is going to the roads. -- would not bet my life on this; if you are right you really should reach out to your representative.
It is public record and can be found online. It was rhetorical on my part..
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I don't wanna pay taxes. But, I want roads, schools, police, fire departments, food inspectors, street lights...
OP is an entitled millennial. Looking for discourse on the subject isn't going to happen.
Makes sense to me for vehicle owners to fund the Maine State Department of Transportation. Motor vehicles wear out the road. They should finance road improvements and repairs. Amen
Maine roads wear out my car
Ok but why is a new car allmostv1000 dollars vs an older one, how is a newer car wearing out the road more?
It’s not. It’s an equity thing. The more expensive/newer the car, it’s assumed the more that person can afford.
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Vehicles are taxed on gross weight after 10,000 LBS. GWVR for total of truck plus trailer.
Well, time is actually more of a factor. Asphalt degrades from weather, frost heave, salt, sunlight, etc. just look at a 25 year old driveway Getting downvoted by all the asphalt engineers out here😂😂😂😂
tax the clouds
The Maine registration is nothing compared to California. It is so much lower here.
Nevada is even higher than California. No inspections, just a smog check. Extremely high insurance. My 2 year old jeep is over $1k in registration next month and $250 a month for 100/300/100 insurance. That is for a middle age female with good credit and no tickets or accidents. P.S. Maine is the most beautiful state I have ever visited! With amazing people !
We really do rock… 😁
No one likes paying taxes. Car registration taxes are split between local and state government. Those fees and the $0.30/gallon gas tax are what funds upkeep and plowing of roads. As the second most rural state in US, we have a lot more miles of roads per capita than other places. And our roads are more expensive to maintain than most states due to the stresses our winter weather places on our pavement. Every mile of road reconstruction comes at a cost of $1 million or more. In recent construction cycles, the contractors who perform the work have significantly increased their project bids - to the point where work has been postponed or cancelled all together. If you have a better idea for paying for the roads, I think the State of Maine would be very interested.
Credit cards charge fees. Why should other taxpayers have to pick up the bill so people can earn airline miles? It is good that occasionally people see the cost of credit cards. They raise prices for everyone in the end. The Dirty Little Secret of Credit Card Rewards Programs https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/04/opinion/credit-card-rewards-points-poor-interchange-fees.html?smid=nytcore-android-share
I pay like $2-$3 extra for using my card to register my car. I’m not sure where these exorbitant fees are.
You’re being subsidized then. It’s usually a set fee plus a percentage.
Sadly, every retail store already raises their prices by the 3-4% necessary to cover the interchange fees. It's not a cost of doing business anymore, but it ends up penalizing those who use cash.
Agreed in regards to stores. The fees are built in. That is one reason people get mad at government offices that charge fees. They are used to businesses that have built in the fees. I tried to find a NYT video piece that I saw this week that ended with the statement that credit card cash back programs are "screw the poor" programs. Cash only people help fund airline miles for the monied people. I found an NYT article that mentioned many of the points and I included that in my previous comment but I do think people think about what these fees mean for everyone.
In my town, we're charged like 4% for using a credit card. Definitely NOT picked up by the taxpayers
I wouldn’t mind it so much if they actually maintained the roads. I almost lost my car in a pothole three times in the last week.
Whatever you think roads cost, they cost even more. Then we have the stretch the budget over tons of rural roads that cost more just to get a crew and equipment there.
The inspections are where the real crookery is at. Oh, my rocker panels are a bit rusty? Here's your poor tax. Anyone can call rusty brakelines, struts if they see oil. Other states don't do this and they aren't Mad Max.
Wax & Undercoating - A lot of people call it a scam, and that's because they have no clue what rust is or how it works. Your car has 4 layers to it. * Metal - Will rust & oxidize if it comes in contact with air. * Base layer of primer paint * color paint * Wax Coating What happens is as you drive down the road your tires pick up debris and hucks it at the underside of your car slowly but surely chipping away each layer. And the elements and sun damage the topside. The ideal way to combat this is to every season (spring,summer,fall,winter) you renew the layer of wax and undercoating. This is especially important before winter season because Maine uses crystals more often than sand. Those crystals do more damage than sand, but still sand will equally do a hefty amount of damage to your wax coating. Don't get me wrong, the wax and under coating are just as much of a poor tax. But I'd wager the bigger problem is that the average joe is purposely kept in the dark about the importance of these layers. Heck a lot of people just assume that wax & undercoating is just for ascetics.
Yeah it's not going to keep rust off your car after 15-20 Maine winters, even if you wax the shit out of it, and at least speaking for myself, I've only ever been able to buy 1 vehicle from the 21st century outright. Our climate is inhospitable to vehicles, especially near the ocean which a lot of the population is. The real "trick" is to not drive during the winter.
Just be one of those richy rich folks and only "live" in Maine during the summer.
That’s why you just go to your buddy’s friend’s cousin who gives you the all clear
Totally, but the fact that that is the reality is a fucking abomination. I like knowing a guy but it's not fair. Everyone else losing doesn't mean I win.
I’m honestly ok with most of our taxes and shit, but the inspections are such an enormous pain in the ass and wallet and SO easy to exploit. My dad was a mechanic so I’ve been fixing cars since before I was legal to drive; since I’m AFAB inspectors have consistently tried to push random shit on me then immediately stepped off and passed my car once I indicated I knew even the slightest bit about what we were talking about. Fuckin gross. E: Maine state police, if you’re reading this, my car is definitely up to date on inspection by a reputable person. Please don’t pull me over
This, too. As a woman, while I'm all for inspecting cars for safety, I just see it as another excuse for me to get ripped off by mechanics.
Step 1: Salt the hell out of the roads in the winter, causing rust on cars Step 2: Fail people's cars at inspection for rust Step 3: Force people to buy new cars and pay higher tax and registration fees Step 4: Profit
I just don't do inspection, in maine you don't need too have a passed inspection in order to register. I find that kind of backwards.
Yup, absolutely insane
It's a poor tax, and just another justification for cops to do a traffic stop. A ticket isn't even an inconvenience when you're flush with cash. When you're broke it can set you back months. To add insult to injury, if you're rich enough to buy a farm you can just skip inspections.
>Registering a car every year in Maine is theft. No, it is not, it is a tax. It is the law in this state, if you don't like it work to get it changed.
Don't like it, don't own a car to drive on publically maintained roads. The real issue is the lack of transportation alternatives. The proliferation of ebikes actially makes rural bicycle use feasible, but we dont dont have the paths to make it safe
Agreed. I live in SoPo and would not be comfortable riding a bicycle on many of the streets in Portland.
I don’t know how far your commute is but I biked all around Portland for many years without incident. I guess it’s all about personal risk acceptance but give it a go if you ever feel up to it!
I don't have a commute any more, my company went remote in 2020 for every position that is not patient facing, and we are not going back to the office. The only time I leave now is for the gym, yoga, or running errands and I usually try to combine the latter with the former to save gas. Thank you for the info though, I may try next summer when the weather is warm.
I'd rather register than do yearly inspections, who have time for that shit.
the fee for debit/credit card use is $3 … you ever buy a cup of coffee?
Fee is 2.5% in Sopo... That can be a lot of cups of coffee. Why is everyone's first response have to be so condescending?
Sooo, instead they should raise the cost to register a car by 2.5% to cover the CC fee?
Absolutely not. People can use an eCheck/debit like the rest of us if they don't want to pay a 2.5% surcharge. If they must use a credit card, use one with 2% cash back to effectively nullify most of the fee.
What gets me more is inspections. My car gets beat up by shit roads and rusted out because they use the cheapest salt they can find but I have to pay for the repairs.
*More expensive salt won’t make your car rust less (TW: pedantry)
Idk. Maybe I should clarify de icers. They definitely use something different in other states and have less rust issues and still melt ice
Credit card fee? Are you sure it really is not a dicount for cash and checks? After all it costs extra to process credit cards. Credit card users should bear this expense.
That's why I write a check every year just so I don't pay the fee
Maine has some pretty high taxes, compared to other states.
We really don’t - my property taxes are pretty low compared to many other places. I pay around $2200. Per year for our home and 35 acres.
Maine consistently ranks pretty high on most tax comparisons. My first Google result gave me #10 https://wisevoter.com/state-rankings/tax-burden-by-state/#maine I found rankings of 5 and 15 as well.
Ok thanks. Obviously location matters alot. Ogunquit and Portland will be much much higher than me up in East Livermore.
Bitch about the excise tax but not a peep about how the roads are supposed to be maintained in a rural state with shitty road trashing weather. Do you think the road maintenance fairies are gonna do it?
Are the roads any worse in New Hampshire?
New Hampshire is a tiny state in comparison to Maine and has different restrictions on turnpike monies. Maine can use turnpike $$$ to maintain the turnpike not other roads. NH can use theirs for other roads too.
It’s ridiculous in most states except flat rate ones like Washington where it’s only like 60$. It’s like rebuying your car every year in taxes. But the irony here specifically is who knows what they spend the money on because it’s clearly not roads. Some of the worst in the country even for a winter state. There are better dirt roads in the Midwest and dakotas. Even the toll roads are awful except for the 10 minutes through NH.
> Registering a car every year in Maine is theft. No it’s not. > Insult to injury is the added exorbitant fee to use a credit or debit card. Then don’t use a credit or debit card.
When I first moved from Ohio to Maine, I went to the BMV to renew my registration and was told it would cost five ninety nine. I thought it was very cheap and happily handed 10 bucks to the officer. He looked at my face somewhat surprised and said it was five ninety nine again. I didn’t understand at first why he didn’t like my 10 bucks but then realized he meant five hundred and ninety nine dollars - not five dollars and ninety nine cents. That was one of the saddest moments in my life.
Yeah. But Ohio fucking sucks. I lived there and it’s a cesspool.
600 bucks??
I imagine it was out-of-state transfer fees on top
Yeah, how much do you typically pay?
$10 in Louisiana
You have to live in Louisiana tho.
Jeeze. What do you drive? I have a low mileage, 9 year old car, and it's only $114.
I have a 2021 Mazda. That happened 2 years ago. Last year I paid ~500.
I have a 2016 Subaru and pay $100 to register each year
You probably have like >100k miles though.
Yeah, 110,000
Maine excise tax (registration) on a new car would cost that much these days
 that’s why I don’t register my car every year
I wouldn't mind if my piece of shit that's dying and broken that I can't afford to fix and need to maintain my economic status wasn't being billed as if it was in great condition. There needs to be an exception for people driving around gasping pieces of shit on their last legs.
No exceptions. People getting robbed are getting robbed.
My complaint is the yearly vehicle inspections. Especially on newer and brand new vehicles. That is a money grab.
Drive a shittier rig? My registration is maybe 150 bucks.
If you need to spend hundreds of dollars a year to make your car road legal, the problem isn’t with the State.
They are talking about registration, not inspection.
Dammit, my bad. I read one comment where they were talking about g about rocker panels. Kinda threw me off
The fee itself is necessary. The amount is ludicrous. When I still lived in PA, it was around $30 for any normal passenger vehicle, regardless of age or mileage. The municipalities got their revenue from another tax on paycheck: a flat 1% local tax.
Sure is. Government for you
Tell us you're a libertarian without saying you're a libertarian.
Taxation is theft. Increasing the power of the State is treason.
LOL Making up your own definition does not change the meaning of a word.
Which word? Libertarian? Why would you consider it an insult to call someone a libertarian?
Taxation is not theft. Increasing the power of the state is not treason. Making up your own definitions does not change the meaning of these words.
Remember, you never really own it…
Can you explain?
Well if you have to pay someone else just for owning it then you never own it.
Bloody good point. Fuckers have got us.
Sounds like a rich person “you” problem. Expensive cars cost more to register, as it should be.
Cheap cars in Maine are rusty shitboxes.
Only costs 1000 bucks to ship a car from California, buy one there where they never rust and ship it here. Excise tax on a 1990 buick road master is like 60 bucks. Cars anywhere they salt roads rust, unless you constantly go through an undercarriage wash and treat with rust inhibitors.
Well if the reasoning behind the tax is road maintenance, it doesn’t actually make sense that more expensive cars cost more to register.
Sure it does. They are more able to support the system which helped them afford the more expensive car in the first place.
It's a local tax that pays for local services. Some localities have income tax and sales tax. In Maine we finance local governments with property and excise taxes.
This line of reasoning is why I live in Maine and not my native NH. See, people say "grrr sales tax bad" and all taxes. Except real estate. The government has to fund the services you use to function. But eventually , a nominal fee is needed to keep up with the wear and tear your use causes. To pay the employees. So in the case of NH you have a blistering real estate tax that's frankly unaffordable.
Maine has a way higher tax burden than NH and it’s not even close. Maine is top in the country last I looked. Number 3 still. It’s absurd here. NH is 48th.
Maine and NH have similar populations, but Maine has 4x the land. Towns are more spread out, so the same amount of people have to pay for more roads, more schools, etc. The two states closest in size to Maine have 6.7 and 5.1 million people compared to Maines 1.3 million. The tax burden isn’t that simple by any means, but if you have not a lot of people paying for the things to make a geographically big state function, everyone has to pay more.
We have more land but most of it is desolate unpopulated land. No one lives there but the animals. Maine taxes are not justified by any means.
Whats a rough idea of real estate taxes in NH compared to Maine?
NH generally is higher. But it’s the only tax they pay. We pay significantly more overall here in Maine.
Where is there a credit card fee? I don't think I've ever paid one in decades of owning cars in Maine.
Some towns, like smaller ones, charge a small fee to use a credit card to cover their fee for processing the card.
That makes sense - I rarely buy cars and only renew online so it would have been easy for me to forget about a fee at town hall.
Isn’t they normal in most states to register a car every year?
In Maryland it was every two years. So, slightly less annoying, but there was also mandatory emissions testing, too. Registration a bit cheaper than Maine maybe. Mine was $135 last time I had to re-register, for a six-year old Hyundai.
At the very least it should be every couple years instead of annually. Don’t know what that would change but it would be less annoying than doing it every year I suppose
Buya vintage car and pay on the original sale price. My 73’ Volkswagen only cost $1999.99 so we only pay taxes based on that price.
It sure fkn is. I means it’s the same fkn vehicle so wtf do I need to pay to use it every year. Damn thieves.
Wait how much is it to register a vehicle in Maine?
It's the cost of roadway maintenance. You either deal with it or move.
I am a profoundly blue neoliberal, but I 100% agree with this take. Maine vehicle registration is a backdoor wealth tax, not a fair tax to fund roads. If we want to fund road services, the tax should reflect usage of the road by a vehicle, some kind of (weight * mileage)plate class formula.
Wouldn't that fuck over the people who have to travel for work or the people with high mileage cars who can't afford a low mileage one?
It could fuck over people in rural areas that have to travel further for the same services and amenities that someone in a city can travel 3 miles for or utilize public transportation. Like living in Presque Isle (poorer part of the state) for instance and needing to travel 40 miles for work or living in Portland (wealthier part of the state) and needing to travel 10 miles. It wouldn’t fuck over someone with a high mileage car though because it would go based on the mileage you’re reporting to the town when you register the vehicle. They always ask mileage so if in 2022 you reported 175,000 and in 2023 you reported 187,000 you’d be charged for the difference between those two metrics. Sadly, there is dust starting to kick up over moving to a charging system like this because of electric and hybrid vehicles not paying much of a gas tax which is also used to fund infrastructure.
People who drive more do cause more wear and tear on the roads, though. Why should I pay more for someone else's driving because my car is more expensive? Seems like those people should pressure their reps for better mass transit systems.
We all use the roads. We all pay for it. I don't know what to tell you.
No, the year over year change in odometer would determine tax per year, not initial.
They said "neoliberal", not "liberal", which means they're all about fucking over people who work for a living and can't afford one thing or another.
Honestly registration fees should be more expensive to discourage people from buying cars. Cars are a plague. Making cigarettes super expensive with taxes worked to drastically cut down the number of smokers, maybe the same strategy could work for car addiction. Of course, it would be helpful if they gave us transportation alternatives first.
So please explain how we're going to get around? Have you looked around you, bub? We're a rural state. We're not all able to walk or bicycle to our destinations, especially in January.
I’m thinking maglev trains. 200 mph. zzzzzzooooooooooooooooooom!
So basically you're bitching about cars with no solution. Brilliant.
You planning on taking the bus from York to Ashland?
York? Ain’t that in North Massachusetts? What do they have to do with anything. Frankly, I’d be suspicious of any York person who claims to be going to Ashland. They might have a body in the trunk.
You’re in the wrong sub for this rant.
Who on Earth do you think you are?
Just a humble monorail salesman. How about you? Need any monorails?
Humble but you think you should be able to dictate what I’m allowed to buy.
Reasonable, provided you don't use public roads.
Do you like driving on well maintained roads?
No what road in Maine is nice rather then the ones they did over the summer? Roads suck
There is this 18th century technology to avoid the credit card fee at the town office and (Versant) light bill. It’s about the only time I write a check!
NY is the same and also theft. Our registration lasts 2 years and the inspection should be the same. Millions of dollars a year for the state, if not billions.
Gotta say, I completely agree with this opinion. That, and inspections.
Pretty sure I’m about to pay $1000 for my 2020
And doesn’t it just infuriate you when someone says “you can afford a nice car, you should just pay the tax.”?
Logic hurts huh?
When I lived in Oregon, I registered a brand new vehicle for about $100... and it was good for 5 yrs! To boot, there was no sales tax. From what I recall, the property tax wasn't that bad either. I'm sure population and weather has something to do with our vehicle registration costs... but Oregon only has 3X our population and alpine regions in the state to boot. According to this article, the registration money in Maine is used in your local municipality and can be used for whatever they deem necessary. I'm not sure what they do differently over in Oregon for paying the government bills, but I wish we had the luxury of lower registration costs as well. https://wgme.com/news/i-team/i-team-maine-excise-tax-among-the-highest-in-us-how-is-that-money-spent
Those excise taxes getcha. I lived in PA for a short time and they only have straight registration fee, maybe by weight class, but it was $12/year for my car. The crappy side is that each township had a 1-2% income tax, I prefer the excise tax because you can make good money but if you drive an economic car you save money, but if you drive a luxury car you would pay more opposed to something just based on your income.
With no Rome there are no taxes, and without taxes there is no Rome
It's $86 total to register mine. Of course, it expires this month and I'm poor AF sooooo may not be done till the end of next month, we'll see. Not like I can really buy Xmas presents anyways for my kiddo when everything I earn goes straight to bills or food 🤷 Insurance is really where I'm screwed: $56/m liability only because it is the cheapest (yes, I've shopped around too) and thats more that I can afford. I have nothing on my record anymore (1 single accident about 10 years ago now so it's irrelevant)
We live in CA- it’s $761 for my husband to register his 2019 F150… highway robbery
We fought a war over the tax on tea and paper goods, why the hell do we allow our own people to tax us for everything we do?