MARCH 10, 2008

LEGISLATOR WROBLEWSKI LEADS COUNTY LEGISLATURE OPPOSING SPITZER PLAN TO INCREASE AUTO INSURANCE FEES

The Erie County Legislature unanimously approved a resolution authored by County Legislator Timothy M. Wroblewski (D-West Seneca, South Cheektowaga) denouncing a proposal that would raise the New York State Motor Vehicle Insurance fee on every vehicle that is registered in New York by $15, from $5 to $20 this year, in Governor Eliot Spitzer's 2008-09 executive budget.

"This is basically a new tax, a hidden tax, regardless of what someone may want to call it, Legislator Wroblewski, Chairman of the Legislature's Public Safety Committee, said. "While Governor Spitzer claims that his 2008-2009 state budget proposal is free of new taxes, this surcharge on auto insurance policies is just one of many fee increases proposed in his budget."

"This auto insurance fee and other fees represent a form of back-door taxation, which I will always oppose, and instead support the residents and taxpayers of the 9th District and Erie County," Legislator Wroblewski added. "This is why the Erie County Legislature unanimously voted to go on record opposing the new auto insurance fee and to make its voice heard by urging the New York State Legislature and Governor Spitzer to reject this new fee."

"At a time where Erie County and other Western New York residents are paying higher New York State Thruway tolls, higher gasoline prices, higher home heating costs as well as everything from medical costs to groceries, it is unconscionable to propose this hike in auto insurance fees," Legislator Wroblewski concluded. "Residents of Erie County and Upstate New York make up a higher proportion of drivers to their percent of the state's population, and to propose a further cost increase to them in wrong."

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