What fees and charges are going up in the new financial year?

2604 said :

Sorry Innovation, but your first and last ideas are no good.

Charging more rego for driving bigger cars is discriminatory and effectively penalising people for choosing a certain type of car – not far from telling people what to drive. I doubt that the extra wear and tear on roads caused by a 1800kg vehicle vs a 1400kg vehicle can ever be quantified in dollar terms. Also, people movers tend to be pretty heavy, so the government’s instinctive pandering to “working families” would kick in and it would can the idea pretty quickly.

Have you paid registration before? Rego costs are calculated by the weight of the vehicle. See here: http://www.rego.act.gov.au/registrations/regofee.htm

Progressively (ie over the next few years) bigger increases to rego fees for heavier and/or larger vehicles. I don’t think current costs cover the increased wear and tear on roads (caused by the extra weight) nor do the current costs cover the extra ground space needed in traffic and carparks. If the cost increase is eventually big enough it might even encourage me to downsize my own car.

Increased fines and monitoring for driving offences provided that the revenue raised from ALL driving offences is pre committed and demonstrated to be for specific new services or infrastructure (and not just added to the “pot”).

Introduction of E tag style fees on certain roads (provided again that the revenue is clearly demonstrated to support specific new services or infrastructure). Eg, $1 on the Parkway, Parkes Way, GDE (when it’s finished) or Northbourne (around the city in peak hour) might not be a huge hit to many drivers and it could help pay for something like the Majura Parkway. It might even get NSW residents to help contribute towards something that they would benefit from in the long run.

I can’t imagine anyone paying to use the parkway. Haha. I’m laughing at the thought of that.

Sorry Innovation, but your first and last ideas are no good.

Charging more rego for driving bigger cars is discriminatory and effectively penalising people for choosing a certain type of car – not far from telling people what to drive. I doubt that the extra wear and tear on roads caused by a 1800kg vehicle vs a 1400kg vehicle can ever be quantified in dollar terms. Also, people movers tend to be pretty heavy, so the government’s instinctive pandering to “working families” would kick in and it would can the idea pretty quickly.

The idea behind toll roads is user pays. Your solution would only be equitable if the gov’t built the Majura Parkway and then tolled people subsequently using that road. Placing toll plazas on roads like Tuggeranong P’way and Northbourne would penalise users of those roads to the advantage of Majura Parkway users and would lead to increased rat-running by tightarses wanting to avoid the toll. A congestion charge levied on people entering Civic by private car would be a better idea, but would get shouted down by the government’s QIC overlords who make a motza from parking every day.

Your second idea has some merit though. A $200 fine for travelling in the right lane without overtaking would raise enough revenue on the Tugg Parkway alone to fund building the Majura Parkway, enclosing Canberra Stadium, basing an AFL team in Canberra, and all of the ACT Governments other insane fantasies.

Progressively (ie over the next few years) bigger increases to rego fees for heavier and/or larger vehicles. I don’t think current costs cover the increased wear and tear on roads (caused by the extra weight) nor do the current costs cover the extra ground space needed in traffic and carparks. If the cost increase is eventually big enough it might even encourage me to downsize my own car.

Increased fines and monitoring for driving offences provided that the revenue raised from ALL driving offences is pre committed and demonstrated to be for specific new services or infrastructure (and not just added to the “pot”).

Introduction of E tag style fees on certain roads (provided again that the revenue is clearly demonstrated to support specific new services or infrastructure). Eg, $1 on the Parkway, Parkes Way, GDE (when it’s finished) or Northbourne (around the city in peak hour) might not be a huge hit to many drivers and it could help pay for something like the Majura Parkway. It might even get NSW residents to help contribute towards something that they would benefit from in the long run.

I think the question was what other fees are you aware of that are actually being raised from 1 July, not what fees would you raise in fantasyland.

Personally I don’t think introducing a fee to recycle large televisions is such a great idea and is likely to lead to even more dumping around charity bins / construction sites / by the side of the road etc.