I am interested in knowing more about some money trails related to the cost of renewing my New Hampshire vehicle registration. With the price of a stamp jacked up a few cents last month, I’d like to know the costs compared to the current online processing fee they push (should a local vehicle owner want to “go green,” which the City of Nashua’s ruling class likes to present itself as doing). This year’s processing fee, often referred to as a “convenience fee,” is $1.75 per vehicle, but it is unknown to me if that changes when the same person renews multiple vehicles at once.
Before getting into that $1.75 racket, I want to dig deeper into the local charge part of the bill, as the state charge of $43.20 is a constant. Of the $60 I am being charged, $51 appears to be the minimum charge if I registered in another community. The $9 difference is the sum of the following fees that Nashua is imposing, subject to Section 261:153.
Agent Fee $3
City MV Clerk Fee $2
Mail Processing Fee $1
Waste Fee $3
$9 on top of $51 is a hefty surcharge. If I had to guess, it’s a percentage that exceeds that of the combined surcharges one would see on all utility bills. Those willing to visit that snake pit known as city hall to pay their registration renewal in person are encouraged to challenge that mail processing fee, but that’s just my suggestion. And I’ll share one more observation, which is that it appears to be regressive taxation on full display. I surmise that all 4 fees are the same for everyone, whether they drive a brand-new Cadillac or an older working-class car that’s years into its plateau of depreciation.
As to that $1.75 fee to be a card-carrying member of a paperless society, the emailed bill had the following fine print at the bottom, “**There is a small fee charged online to support the provider of these services. To learn more about the convenience fees click here **,” so I clicked where I was told and opened this link.
Inside that page, there is a “send us your feedback” link to click on, but any input is probably going to go to the 3rd party rather than city hall, so I’ll take a rain check on that. There’s also some “contact us” info, but I’m not up for any of the usual call-answering shenanigans like being put on hold indefinitely, shuttled around from extension to extension, or being told my questions are better answered by city hall. I have emailed the city motor vehicle department with a few RTK questions. I’ve requested 3 things, and they are as follows:
Any document that would show how many vehicle registrations were renewed in Nashua for fiscal year 2024.
Any document that would show how many of the above-noted vehicles’ registrations were done online.
Any document that shows the $1.75 online fee accounted for in the finances with a record that shows these fees being paid out to another agency
Let’s see what happens.
Why am I venting all this? Nashua’s ruling class wants us to have a 15-minute city. Alderman Kelly, who’s running for Wheeler’s seat in the executive council and in a primary with Ms Melanie Levesque, wants commuter rail in NH. In addition to Planned Parenthood, commuter rail is her signature issue and a favorite of much of her city hall ilk, including the mayor. You, dear reader, might live in a community that’s not yet completely lost at sea. It’s not too late to make some noise about this racket at town meeting.
