Obviously, every year everyone who owns a vehicle has to pay these "fees". Would someone please explain the purpose of these fees and why am I forced to pay them? What if I did not want to pay the child safety fee or the Reg Fee-DPS? What difference does it make? I'm actually not trying to complain, I'm just looking for an educated answer. Thanks!

WINDSHIELD STICKER 40.50
REG FEE-DPS 1.00
REFLECTORIZATION FEE 0.30
CNTY ROAD BRIDGE ADD-ON FEE 10.00
CHILD SAFETY FUND 1.50
AUTOMATION FEE (LARGE CNTY) 1.00
MAIL IN FEE 1.00
SERVICE FEE (NON-REFUNDABLE if Tax Office Declines Application) 2.00

Government budgeting. Each line goes into a different fund that can't dip into the other funds. So, they spell it out for you up front when you pay your bottom line amount.

But you think it's bad here, try living in one of the big counties. There you also get blessed with paying an extra $30 or so on your inspection sticker so they can test your car's emissions each year. And if it fails, it's several hundred to fix.

When my car was registered in Dallas, my yearly fee was $53.40. I recently moved to Iowa, and each year it'll be $154 for me to register my car here. There aren't vehicle inspections up here, but overall, I'm still out more money than when I lived in Texas.

Just thought I'd add some out of state perspective; it could be a lot worse. And the $154/year is for a rural state like Iowa; imagine what it would cost if you lived in Boston or Los Angeles.

Give AZ a try. Fees based on car value. Fee there was around 8x what we pay here. Have to say though, don't remember it being all listed out though. Never noticed that.

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Give AZ a try. Fees based on car value. Fee there was around 8x what we pay here. Have to say though, don't remember it being all listed out though. Never noticed that.

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This is exactly what I was going to say. My brother lives in AZ where he pays about $400 a year to register his car. In MA (where my in-laws live) they pay an "excise tax" every year for their car, which is about $150. Texas is super cheap compared to most states on car registration.

Texas isn't bad at all but not every other state is super expensive either. I lived in upstate NY for a while before moving back a couple years ago and they charged $46/yr TOTAL to register my F-150 there whereas I pay ~50% more here.

[This message has been edited by Ag12 (edited 10/12/2010 3:37a).]

Some states like Virginia have a personal property tax (I'm not sure what their car registration fees are). You get to pay tax on the value of your ride every year.