A bill that would allow New York counties to keep a higher percentage of the Department of Motor Vehicles’ (DMV) revenue has just passed to the state’s Assembly. The bill is sponsored by state Senator Patty Ritchie (R-Heuvelton) and will raise counties’ share of DMV revenue from 12.7% to 25%.
“Our counties continue to be bogged down by costly mandates imposed by the state—and the situation concerning the low local share of DMV fees is just the latest example,” said Ritchie.
Current laws allow the state to retain more than 87% of all fees collected at county offices. Ritchie’s Senate bill, 4964-B, would double the percentage of revenue kept locally and get money back to counties who have fronted funds for state DMV offices.
If the bill is passed, NY residents could soon see an increase in local county profits.—of the state’s 62 counties, 51 currently offer a DMV office.
In addition, Ritchie’s plan would permit county clerks to retain 60% of the $30 non-driver ID card fee. Currently, counties keep only 30% of that fee.
The New York State Association of County Clerks has backed the bill throughout the process.
“The percentage of revenue our office receives for doing work on behalf of the state hasn’t increased since 1999—yet in that same time period, there’s certainly been an uptick in our workload,” said Oswego County Clerk Mike Backus.
Senator Ritchie, also once a county clerk, has advocated this plan for years. This bill was part of a series aimed to provide relief for NY counties from unfunded state mandates.
“As a former county clerk, I’ve seen firsthand the amount of work our local DMV offices do on behalf of the state—and simply put, it’s not fair for our counties to be doing the heavy lifting and not be compensated fairly. This legislation would rectify the issue, and provide counties across the state with much-needed mandate relief,” Richie said.
