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Car tax, workers' comp costs are double-whammy for businesses Tripling the payment to $63,000 makes co-owner Sam Ingardia laugh. "All of a sudden. Wow. No wonder there's a possible recall against the governor," he said. "Car registration wasn't supposed to bail out other spending." Ingardia said the increase will put a dent in profits already hit by workers' compensation costs, which have quadrupled since 2001 for the 115- employee company. "There's only one person who's gonna pay for this - the consumer," said Jim Hossack, a senior analyst with Auto Pacific Group in Santa Ana. Hossack said auto dealers will have no choice but to pass the fee increase on to customers. "In the end, (car dealers) pass on $100 pass on $300," he said. "It only matters to the guy writing the check." Every Orange County business owner contacted by The Orange County Register was dismayed by the likelihood of a huge boost in vehicle license fees. "I heard rumors about a 30 or 40 percent increase," said Ann Crane of Meyerhof's Catering in Irvine who has four to six vehicles, some of which she rents. "Thirty percent would be manageable, but it's not fair to triple it." She'll feel the effect in two ways, she said. She owns a 1987 van with an annual license cost of $86. "I'd have to think long and hard about replacing it with a 2004 (model), whose fee could be thousands of dollars." If she rents a truck instead, the leasing company will pass along the tax increase, she said. John Craddock of Create- a-Party equipment rentals in Brea said he would have a difficult time passing on to his customers an increase of as much as $7,000 in license fees for his seven trucks. "We pay a lot of taxes already," he said. "It definitely affects what I'm able to do here for my employees. The money has to come from somewhere." Bruce Ross, owner of ExpressAir regional delivery service in Costa Mesa, said he got rid of his trucks after the state added a fee on business vehicles when cutting the vehicle registration fee in 1998. He outsources much of his company's delivery work but still has a company truck and cargo van, for which he pays $408 in license fees. He acknowledged that raising the fee wouldn't put him out of business, but said it was one more expense the state has imposed. "Government is going to nickel and dime us to death," he said. Auto industry expert Hossack agrees. "It's just one of those things that encourages people not to live in California," he said. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Register staff writer Julie Gallego contributed to this report.
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CONTACT US: (714) 796-7927 or jnorman@ocregister.com
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