hahahaha...Bubb Rubb! WOOOOOO WOOOOOO!
Posted on 12/31/2003 11:08:47 AM PST by NormsRevenge
The cost of being a Californian is going up in 2004 and few in the Golden State will be spared from the efforts to bolster the state and local budgets with higher fees and fines.
Fishing will cost more.
So will filing for divorce.
And driving. Or flying.
And drinking from bottles and cans.
Planning to pitch a tent this summer? That'll cost you.
But perhaps nobody will feel the immediate effect of the new calendar like BART's 315,000 daily patrons.
BART's across-the-board 10 percent fare increase takes effect with daytime service on Jan. 1.
The average price of a ticket will climb from $2.55 to $2.80. The minimum fare climbs from $1.15 to $1.25 and the cost of a one-way trip from Fremont or Dublin/Pleasanton to San Francisco International Airport will set people back a whopping $7.10. For the first three hours of the New Year though, bleary-eyed BART riders taking special late-night trains will pay the old fare.
BART is the only major mass transit operator with New Year's fare increases. Many others, including AC Transit, WHEELS, Golden Gate Transit, San Francisco MUNI and Santa Clara Valley Transit Authority already bumped fares in the summer or fall. Union City Transit, not to be left out, is raising fares in March.
Meanwhile, even before the first band bleats a note in the Rose Parade Thursday, drivers will have to face the music from fee hikes too.
Registering a vehicle will cost $40, up from $30, which includes a bump in the base registration and an increase from $2 to $9 to pay for the California Highway Patrol's anti-terrorism work.
Renewing a driver's license will cost $24, up from $15. Makes one want to party like it's 1999, doesn't it?
As for crossing Bay Area bridges, voters will decide in March whether to boost the toll to $3 on every span save the Golden Gate. But scofflaws can certainly count on paying more in 2004.
Driving without a seatbelt used to cost $22.50. Now that infraction will be between $78 and $88, depending on which county convicts the offender.
And those who buck the new ban on noisy whistle-tips in car mufflers can get a fix-it ticket with a base fine of $250, which can climb to $821. Interestingly, however, on 11 California highways or byways, including four notorious "blood alleys" in the Bay Area, breaking the speeding laws will get cheaper. At least for now.
Currently, California has 12 "safety enhancement zones," where fines for speeding tickets are doubled because the roads routinely see bloody crashes. In the Bay Area, those zones include the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway 4 between Brentwood and the San Joaquin County line, a stretch of Highway 37 in the North Bay and the infamous Pacheco Pass Road, on Highway 152 east of Gilroy near the Route 152 "Y" intersection.
The experiment with double fines in these areas ends today, unless the Legislature extends it. Lawmakers continued the practice only on a stretch of U.S. 101 in Humboldt County.
But just so no one feels left out, traveling by air out of Oakland International Airport will get more expensive too, but when and by how much is unclear. The airport already approved a bump in its landing fees from $1.18 per pound, but is negotiating with the airlines in February what the final amount will be. Typically that cost is passed along to customers, and the fee will be retroactive to Jan. 1.
Whew. Why not just go fishing instead? Oops. Think again.
Those looking to wet a line face a double-whammy in'04. California fishing licenses, in addition to the annual inflation bump-up, also will see their first price increase in 17 years.
It's not so bad though -- the annual resident sport fishing license jumps 8 percent, from $29 in 2003 to $31.25 in 2004. Resident hunting licenses will increase similarly, from $29.75 to $31.25.
But wait, there's more. The state has dropped some of the cheaper, limited use licenses this year. Gone, for instance, is the $17.25 "Pacific Ocean Only" sport fishing license, which means anglers looking to ply deep blue sea alone must now buy a regular license -- an 81 percent increase. And the two-day sport fishing license jumped 50 percent, to $15.
California State Parks also jumped on the boost-the-budget bandwagon, increasing fees for summer camping. Some parks will see bigger jumps than others. Proposed parking increases are also in the works.
A camp site at Mount Diablo State Park, for example, will cost $19 this summer, 26 percent more than last year. But if you want to group camp at Sunset State Beach near Monterey, you'll shell out $224 this year, not the $135 happy campers spent in '03. (Go to www.parks.ca.gov for a breakdown of increases by park.)
The fees don't officially kick in until July 1, but since officials start taking reservations on Jan. 2 for the July visitors, the pain will hit the pocketbook before anyone pitches a tent.
In the meantime, don't count on drowning your sorrows to help fight the budget blues.
The California Redemption Value tacked to each can and bottle sold in the state jumps 60 percent come Jan. 1. That six-pack of beer, for instance, will cost nine more cents. The fee on a liter of water or soda jumps three cents.
Chump change? California Department of Conservation expects to rake in an extra $300 million -- about $9 per person -- in 2004.
That's all redeemable, notes Jim Ferguson, the department's assistant recycling director. "If you redeem your bottle and cans, it doesn't get more expensive," he said.
But who has time? You're going to be working more -- and not just to cover this spread.
Californians will get pinched in the paycheck as well with a new .08 percent deduction to fund the state's new family leave law -- which allows six weeks of paid leave per year to take care of a new baby or sick relative.
But that's pretty much all the bad news.
Wait. Don't forget that filing for divorce will cost an extra $45.
The good news is 2004 is a Leap Year. That means there's one more day to earn the extra cash.
Happy New Year.
hahahaha...Bubb Rubb! WOOOOOO WOOOOOO!
Hah! Gray Davis shoulda thought of that one. He'd still be governor today. Instant balanced budget!
The California Redemption Value tacked to each can and bottle sold in the state jumps 60 percent come Jan. 1. That six-pack of beer, for instance, will cost nine more cents. The fee on a liter of water or soda jumps three cents.
This fraudulent law has always grated on me. It's effectively a tax, since there's never anyplace to redeem them near where you purchase, and even then they always pay by the pound.
Stinking politicians, a pox on them that foist this crap!!!
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