Mugged by California DMV?

[CoachPotato]

Pardon me if I'm covering plowed ground here, but I couldn't find any threads on this topic...

My annual registration renewal is to be $880! I've owned a couple of gas rigs in the past, the last was newer than our "new" diesel, and paid about half or less than the fees of this diesel!

Would some diesel owners from Kalifornistan please chime in here and let me know it this sounds similar to what you're paying?

Our coach is a 2004 (12 years old!) Winnebago Diesel 32T. It seems to me I'm being mugged and I'd like to know if our $880 mugging sounds similar to your experience.

Thanks for any info.

-Dale

Update 8-16:

Wow! What a blizzard of responses! I appreciate all who came back with helpful advice, especially to msmith1199 who nailed it! Thank you, sir!

He stated I must have paid around $120,000, which I didn't but which I just learned via phone call to DMV they showed to be the sale price. Again, as msmith said, it should have sold mid $50k and I did pay (and did report) $57k. The coach had 31K miles on it and I bought it from the original owner. It was in great shape and had all the good options.

The DMV call revealed that, somehow, they showed the sale price to be $121K. What the...?! I registered it in person at my local DMV office and showed my purchase price to be $57k. To register it they charged me the use (sales) tax and other fees totaling $4860. How they came up with $121K value for my renewal next month nobody knows.

So... that's the story. Instead of paying $880 I'll be paying $464 once I visit my local DMV a week from tomorrow and show them my sale documents. Again. Gotta wonder about CA DMV! But they do have a handy system when I called that let me leave my number and they called back in about 10 minutes. I wish the phone company, etc. had such a system!

Thanks again.

-Dale

[GHOST1750]

I live in central California and On 8/16 I sent in my license fee of $242.00 on my 2003 National Tradewinds. I can live with that.

[barmcd]

Bumpyroad wrote:

barmcd wrote:

Bumpyroad wrote:
the state is going to get whatever money is needed from some source. whether it is spent wisely is another discussion. when I considered Texas, the no income tax would about break even with the increased property tax I would have to pay, on IIRC a $250,000 home. that is unless some excessive MUD tax was also involved.

bumpy

It depends on where that $250K home is. We had a home appraised at $329K in San Antonio and paid over $7,500 property tax each year, most of it school tax. We moved to a small town in another county and have a house appraised at $250K and our property tax is only $4,100. Car registration is low, but sales tax is 8.25%. Like you say, state and local government has to get the money from some place.

a $250,000 house in san antonio should then have been about$5,600 tax? another factor in no state income tax is that income usually shrinks after retirement, etc., so the benefit is lessened but the property tax keeps going up. But the cost of housing, and I was looking at Lake Conroe, and Tiki Island, was a big savings over the right coast.

bumpy

You get a big difference in taxes across the city because there are about 17 different school districts in and around San Antonio. Each district charges a different rate per $100. We lived in San Antonio Independent School District and they had the maximum tax rate allowed by law. Other districts with a better tax base (higher appraisals) can charge a lower rate and bring in more income.

[Bumpyroad]

bukzin wrote:

msmith1199 wrote:

Bumpyroad wrote:

Mr.Mark wrote:

Bumpyroad wrote:

bukzin wrote:
I am among the group that enjoys what my California
tax dollars go to.

.

so who is the other person in your "group"?
bumpy 🙂

I'm here Bumpy.... Raising my hand up high!!!! :C

Yes, everything in California costs more, but, the weather is beautiful in the desert from October through May..... 350-360 days of sunshine!

In the summer, it's only about 130 miles to the ocean, 75 miles to Lake Arrowhead and Big Bear Lake. Within 150 miles, you can have beautiful weather anytime of the year. Joshua Tree National Park is about 60 miles east.

Even further north, the Sequoia National Park and Yosemite National Park.

California is such a large state, it has everything you need from desert to forrest and everything inbetween!:D

Safe travels,
MM.

wrong, the issue isn't whether CA is a great place to live. this discussion is in the taxation issues you folks have. if you want your income tax to pay millions to small town mayors/et.al. and to pay for illegal aliens health coverage, go for it.
bumpy

You're right on this one Bumpy. The Taxes are not high here because of the nice weather. They are high because of the way our politicians spend the money. If they gave me the veto pen and allowed me to cut the waste out of government, I could fix the problem and be able to cut taxes here in half or more and we'd still have the nice weather. But if I ran for governor under that theory, I'd get about 12 votes in this state.

I have done well here in California and continue to survive
in a 'high tax' state.

No matter what we think about the politicians we must keep
an eye on economics.

Here is a link to a very interesting article regarding
deep tax cuts.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/09/magazine/the-kansas-experiment.html

well if it was in the NY times it's gotta be correct. i'm not talking about deep tax cuts. I'm talking about all the foolishness the CA pols pay for.
bumpy

[CoachPotato]

bukzin wrote:
I am among the group that enjoys what my California
tax dollars go to.

There are a few of us lucky to live in our state of choice.

That brings up a very good question: where do our taxes go?! We pay the 5th highest gas tax in the country and for that very high price we have the 7th worst roads of all the states:
================
From zerohedge.com May 2016, California gas tax is 50.8 cents, the 5th highest in the nation!

From BusinessInsider.com July 2015,California roads rated 7th worst out of the 50 states:

7. California
Percentage of roads in poor/mediocre condition: 68%

Structurally deficient/functionally obsolete bridges: 6, 953
===============

Having lived here in Kalifornistan for over 70 years, I have been held against my will for the past 14 years, our retirement years, when we could have lived anywhere we wanted. But dear Wifey has family here and won't budge. I am a prisoner of love!

While I hate living here because of the crowds, the traffic, the crime (I'm near Stockton, CA), the taxes, ad infinitum, I envy those who like it here because it ain't likely I'll be moving 'til they move me out feet first.

-Dale

[bukzin]

msmith1199 wrote:

Bumpyroad wrote:

Mr.Mark wrote:

Bumpyroad wrote:

bukzin wrote:
I am among the group that enjoys what my California
tax dollars go to.

.

so who is the other person in your "group"?
bumpy 🙂

I'm here Bumpy.... Raising my hand up high!!!! :C

Yes, everything in California costs more, but, the weather is beautiful in the desert from October through May..... 350-360 days of sunshine!

In the summer, it's only about 130 miles to the ocean, 75 miles to Lake Arrowhead and Big Bear Lake. Within 150 miles, you can have beautiful weather anytime of the year. Joshua Tree National Park is about 60 miles east.

Even further north, the Sequoia National Park and Yosemite National Park.

California is such a large state, it has everything you need from desert to forrest and everything inbetween!:D

Safe travels,
MM.

wrong, the issue isn't whether CA is a great place to live. this discussion is in the taxation issues you folks have. if you want your income tax to pay millions to small town mayors/et.al. and to pay for illegal aliens health coverage, go for it.
bumpy

You're right on this one Bumpy. The Taxes are not high here because of the nice weather. They are high because of the way our politicians spend the money. If they gave me the veto pen and allowed me to cut the waste out of government, I could fix the problem and be able to cut taxes here in half or more and we'd still have the nice weather. But if I ran for governor under that theory, I'd get about 12 votes in this state.

I have done well here in California and continue to survive
in a 'high tax' state.

No matter what we think about the politicians we must keep
an eye on economics.

Here is a link to a very interesting article regarding
deep tax cuts.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/09/magazine/the-kansas-experiment.html

[Bumpyroad]

barmcd wrote:

Bumpyroad wrote:
the state is going to get whatever money is needed from some source. whether it is spent wisely is another discussion. when I considered Texas, the no income tax would about break even with the increased property tax I would have to pay, on IIRC a $250,000 home. that is unless some excessive MUD tax was also involved.

bumpy

It depends on where that $250K home is. We had a home appraised at $329K in San Antonio and paid over $7,500 property tax each year, most of it school tax. We moved to a small town in another county and have a house appraised at $250K and our property tax is only $4,100. Car registration is low, but sales tax is 8.25%. Like you say, state and local government has to get the money from some place.

a $250,000 house in san antonio should then have been about$5,600 tax? another factor in no state income tax is that income usually shrinks after retirement, etc., so the benefit is lessened but the property tax keeps going up. But the cost of housing, and I was looking at Lake Conroe, and Tiki Island, was a big savings over the right coast.

bumpy

[Bumpyroad]

what are taxes et.al. like in Reno? seems to me that one could live there and still enjoy all those 'benefits' of CA.
bumpy

[barmcd]

Bumpyroad wrote:
the state is going to get whatever money is needed from some source. whether it is spent wisely is another discussion. when I considered Texas, the no income tax would about break even with the increased property tax I would have to pay, on IIRC a $250,000 home. that is unless some excessive MUD tax was also involved.

bumpy

It depends on where that $250K home is. We had a home appraised at $329K in San Antonio and paid over $7,500 property tax each year, most of it school tax. We moved to a small town in another county and have a house appraised at $250K and our property tax is only $4,100. Car registration is low, but sales tax is 8.25%. Like you say, state and local government has to get the money from some place.

[D_E_Bishop]

Dale, Thanks for letting us know about the outcome of your problem. It seems, at least to my family that going to DMV recently has been a much better experience than it was five or ten years ago.

We use their appointment scheduler and just zip through our visits, even the folks behind the counters seem to be more responsive.

I did have one long time employee that was not up to speed on the courtesy side of things until I noticed her purple Kings jersey behind her on the chair back. I mentioned that both my daughters had them and had been hockey buffs since their teen years. Couldn't get her to shut up after that. She finished the paper work and just held it and talked about the Kings pre and post The Grape One(Gretzky).

Thanks again for the follow up.

[Mr_Mark1]

Bumpyroad wrote:

Mr.Mark wrote:

Bumpyroad wrote:

bukzin wrote:
I am among the group that enjoys what my California
tax dollars go to.

.

so who is the other person in your "group"?
bumpy 🙂

I'm here Bumpy.... Raising my hand up high!!!! :C

Yes, everything in California costs more, but, the weather is beautiful in the desert from October through May..... 350-360 days of sunshine!

In the summer, it's only about 130 miles to the ocean, 75 miles to Lake Arrowhead and Big Bear Lake. Within 150 miles, you can have beautiful weather anytime of the year. Joshua Tree National Park is about 60 miles east.

Even further north, the Sequoia National Park and Yosemite National Park.

California is such a large state, it has everything you need from desert to forrest and everything inbetween!:D

Safe travels,
MM.

wrong, the issue isn't whether CA is a great place to live. this discussion is in the taxation issues you folks have. if you want your income tax to pay millions to small town mayors/et.al. and to pay for illegal aliens health coverage, go for it.
bumpy

You're right Bumpy..... I got off track. I guess I find value in the higher taxes to live in such a wonderful place.

One thing I do feel is true, EVERY single State has a tax issue of some sort, not one State is perfect. Everyone wants to pay less and there are people fighting it all the time (that's how they get elected as they claim they can make things better)..... and sometimes things do get better.

MM.

[Kayteg1]

Common misunderstanding.
Properties in prime CA locations are highly priced, but that doesn't mean you can't buy family house for 50 grands in one of remote city.
Food, especially in So CA is probably the cheapest in whole country.
Our Texan friends could not believe seeing Texan beef in CA sold for 1/3 what it cost in Texas.
I can still get cook-to order lunch for $6 in San Francisco China district. That is about the same what cup of coffee in Seattle.
Where I live - tax dollars (+ private contributions) go to public schools, who in ratings beat about 90% of private schools.
Living at higher elevation, I don't need to run AC, so my house is using $40-50 in electricity every month.
Water is so excelent, I don't need softener, nor reverse osmosis (that wary from district to district).
Proposition 13 made my property taxes (took few years) lower than in any other state.
Now -over the years my house made me a millionaire. Where do I go from here?

[msmith1199]

Bumpyroad wrote:

Mr.Mark wrote:

Bumpyroad wrote:

bukzin wrote:
I am among the group that enjoys what my California
tax dollars go to.

.

so who is the other person in your "group"?
bumpy 🙂

I'm here Bumpy.... Raising my hand up high!!!! :C

Yes, everything in California costs more, but, the weather is beautiful in the desert from October through May..... 350-360 days of sunshine!

In the summer, it's only about 130 miles to the ocean, 75 miles to Lake Arrowhead and Big Bear Lake. Within 150 miles, you can have beautiful weather anytime of the year. Joshua Tree National Park is about 60 miles east.

Even further north, the Sequoia National Park and Yosemite National Park.

California is such a large state, it has everything you need from desert to forrest and everything inbetween!:D

Safe travels,
MM.

wrong, the issue isn't whether CA is a great place to live. this discussion is in the taxation issues you folks have. if you want your income tax to pay millions to small town mayors/et.al. and to pay for illegal aliens health coverage, go for it.
bumpy

You're right on this one Bumpy. The Taxes are not high here because of the nice weather. They are high because of the way our politicians spend the money. If they gave me the veto pen and allowed me to cut the waste out of government, I could fix the problem and be able to cut taxes here in half or more and we'd still have the nice weather. But if I ran for governor under that theory, I'd get about 12 votes in this state.

[Bumpyroad]

Mr.Mark wrote:

Bumpyroad wrote:

bukzin wrote:
I am among the group that enjoys what my California
tax dollars go to.

.

so who is the other person in your "group"?
bumpy 🙂

I'm here Bumpy.... Raising my hand up high!!!! :C

Yes, everything in California costs more, but, the weather is beautiful in the desert from October through May..... 350-360 days of sunshine!

In the summer, it's only about 130 miles to the ocean, 75 miles to Lake Arrowhead and Big Bear Lake. Within 150 miles, you can have beautiful weather anytime of the year. Joshua Tree National Park is about 60 miles east.

Even further north, the Sequoia National Park and Yosemite National Park.

California is such a large state, it has everything you need from desert to forrest and everything inbetween!:D

Safe travels,
MM.

wrong, the issue isn't whether CA is a great place to live. this discussion is in the taxation issues you folks have. if you want your income tax to pay millions to small town mayors/et.al. and to pay for illegal aliens health coverage, go for it.
bumpy

[Mr_Mark1]

Bumpyroad wrote:

bukzin wrote:
I am among the group that enjoys what my California
tax dollars go to.

.

so who is the other person in your "group"?
bumpy 🙂

I'm here Bumpy.... Raising my hand up high!!!! :C

Yes, everything in California costs more, but, the weather is beautiful in the desert from October through May..... 350-360 days of sunshine!

In the summer, it's only about 130 miles to the ocean, 75 miles to Lake Arrowhead and Big Bear Lake. Within 150 miles, you can have beautiful weather anytime of the year. Joshua Tree National Park is about 60 miles east.

Even further north, the Sequoia National Park and Yosemite National Park.

California is such a large state, it has everything you need from desert to forrest and everything inbetween!:D

Safe travels,
MM.