Crash in Huntington Beach, pay a fee - (Santa Ana, Anaheim: sales, real estate)

[steel7]

If you're a non resident in HB & get into a accident expect to pay crash fees out of your pocket. I loath politicians. http://www.democraticunderground.com...ss=102x4506510

[bhcompy]

Costa Mesa, Garden Grove, Santa Ana, and Anaheim(I think?) also do this

[EscapeCalifornia]

The government wants it both ways. Pay taxes up the a$$, then pay again if you actually use anything you thought your taxes were paying for.

[Mach50]

This is right there with paying for a 911 call and $300 for a fire department response to a car wreck in Tracy.

They should just go to a total fee based system, privatize it, then there will be Fire trucks with giant COKE and Red Bull advertisements on the side...Cop cars with Krispy Kreme on the side...

This will be the future H.B. police car:

http://quaintly.net/pics/hk11_2.jpg (broken link)

[steel7]

Nearby loma linda has that 300.00 911 fee as well. Govt thieves!

[wrcousert]

Revolution!

[steel7]

Originally Posted by wrcousert

Revolution!

Easier said then done. Too many people fear the govt & are scared of their own shadows. Quite sad!

[KaaBoom]

Originally Posted by steel7

If you're a non resident in HB & get into a accident expect to pay crash fees out of your pocket. I loath politicians. Crash in Huntington Beach, pay a fee - Democratic Underground

This type of insanity is what makes living in California suck. First somebody correct me if I'm wrong. But doesn't most tax revenue in California come from sales tax? We pay about the highest sales tax in the country. Visitors to a city pay sales tax, just like residents do. So why should they not receive the same city services that residents do?

Other issues. 1. If a motorist involved in an accident doesn't even have insurance, what makes the city think that they will actually be able to collect from such a person, for the emergency response costs? Good luck with that.

2. As is pointed out in the original article. Standard auto insurance policies simply do not cover fire department response. Which means that, the unfortunate motorist who has the accident will be on hook for thousands of dollars for the Fire Departments response costs. Hopefully they have the funds to pay for it.

3. Even as is pointed out, if the insurance companies do agree to accept liability for Fire Department responses, they are just going to raise everybody's insurance premiums to cover these costs. Especially if this becomes common all over California. So tax payers will save a dollar or two a year, from the Fire Department collecting user fees, but will have to pay out hundreds of dollars in additional insurance premiums What sense those that make?

4. The way emergence services works, is based on mutual aid. Yes when somebody is passing through your city, and has an accident, your Fire Department paid for with your tax money responds to it. Likewise when you are traveling in another city, and have an accident, the Fire Department in that city responds, paid for by the someone else taxes. It's a collective effort. Every city in California should retaliate against Huntington Beach, and have the same special Fire Department response fees just for Huntington Beach residents.

This is going to be a big FAIL for Huntington Beach. Most of the fees will never even get collected. When are people going to realize, that as inefficient as the government is, they can still provide certain universal services, such as fire protection, to everyone for an unbelievably low price. Continuing with a policy of no new taxes, and ever increasing user fees is going to destroy the standard of living in this country. These fees are going to nickel and dime people too death. Just wait till you have to have a meter on your car just like a taxicab. Ringing up all the users fees as you drive down the street from of your house.

The United States invented free fire protection service, over 200 years ago. It has been so successful that it has been copied by every singe country in the world. Now we are witnessing the end of it. It's a sad time in history.

[ferretkona]

All counties do this. My insurance company asked from me a count of services, fire engines, CHP, air plane responce. The insurance company pays this all.

[kwong7]

While our taxes go to pay for emergency services, there is less money channeled to most services. It burdens the government budget to pay for rising pay wages for its employees. Couple that with a drop in tax revenue and you have a concerning issue. Yes, sales tax increased to a level that is the highest of my lifetime, but I would have to think this was in response to the huge drop in property tax, closing costs, real estate transactions, and corporate tax that soared during the housing bubble.

Unfortunately, the tax increases blanket just about everyone who buys anything, but as far as taxes goes, I think it's fair. It's not a tax exclusively on the rich or the poor, but the poor will definitely feel it more. I actually favor this concept that those causing government services an expense should make up for some of the cost. The cost should not be excessive, but that's subjective. It doesn't seem right for people to justify their burden on others by saying their taxes pays for their mistakes.

I realize my statements are highly debatable since there are many varying philosophies, but I think there is definitely a middle road that can make all sides slightly unhappy. We call it compromise.