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Bill would exempt seniors from license fees

By Howard Fischer

http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/knau/local-knau-499217.mp3

Phoenix – That help would be available to about 25,000 seniors in the form of not having to pay the state licensing tax on one of their vehicles. And that can be a lot of money. That levy is based on the value of the vehicle. So someone who plunks down $25,000 for a new car ends up with a first-year obligation of $420. As the car gets older -- and less valuable -- the tax drops. The tax exemption would be available to seniors who meet certain income standards -- about $28,000 a year for a single person or slightly more than $52,000 for a couple. But Sen. Jay Tibshraeny said this is only a
first step.

(Actually what I would like to eventually see is us expand that to everybody across the board. This is a start. I want to hit some of our people that are on fixed incomes and senior citizens. And hopefully that will be successful. And then next year I would be back to expand the program.)

But expanding the program is going to require Tibshraeny convincing colleagues that the state can give up the cash. Just giving the tax break to those 25,000 seniors carries a price tag of more than $7.5 million. In Phoenix, for Arizona Public Radio this is Howard Fischer.