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Utah lawmakers are looking to make up $67 million of the state budget shortfall by raising certain fees. The vast majority of that amount could come from the price to register your car.
Senate Republicans voted to raise the motor vehicle registration fee by $20 per car. The increase would bring in about $50 million.
But the House voted down that proposal, a move with which Armando Pozzouli, a three-year Utah resident, agrees.
"I don't know, I don't think it will be a good idea for all the people, you know, around here. I don't think they're going to be too happy about it," he sais.
Tasha Halter is from St. George. She has mixed feelings.
"Twenty dollars isn't that bad, but it's already expensive as it is. So it's kind of frustrating to pay twenty more dollars," she said.
House leaders will meet again to discuss all the options on the table to make up for the difference. One option is an increase in the sales tax on food. Another is the controversial cigarette tax increase, a proposal Gov. Huntsman suggested in the budget he released last year.
The cigarette tax increase would raise the tax from 69.5 cents per pack to $1.30 per pack.
E-mail: pmchardy@ksl.com
