Out-Of-State Car Registrations Cost ‘Millions’: Lafayette Says
BY JOHN TOSCANO

Lafayette said the report also revealed New York City is deprived of millions of dollars in uncollected parking and traffic violation fines.

During the past two years, car owners from Pennsylvania have ignored parking tickets that amount to $24 million in nonpayments, according to a state Department of Investigation report.

Deputy Assembly Speaker Ivan Lafayette, who issued the results of the DOI report, stated the $24 million is just the tip of the iceberg and part of a much bigger problem: “rate evasion”, the practice of registering a vehicle in another state to take advantage of lower insurance rates.

Lafayette (D–Jackson Heights) stated: “According to the [DOI] report, when people engage in rate evasion, both New York City and New York state are deprived of sales and use tax revenue imposed on automobile purchases, and the state and city also lose out on numerous fees, such as license plate fees, title certificates [and] vehicle registrations as well as annual renewal fees.”

Lafayette said the report also revealed New York City is deprived of millions of dollars in uncollected parking and traffic violation fines.

Lafayette added, “For many New Yorkers who do not want to pay for automobile insurance, as they are required by law to do, illegal registration is the best way to avoid it completely.”

The lawmaker explained, “They register their cars in states that do not require a car to be insured before it is registered. This type of situation not only helps to drive up New York insurance rates, but leaves car accident victims with nowhere to turn because those who [collide with] them have no insurance.”

This situation has been bothering Lafayette for the past four years, leading to meetings with Mayor Michael Bloomberg and his aides, but nothing came of the sessions.

The veteran lawmaker then turned to the DOI, which realized a potentially big problem was looming and began an investigation.

Lafayette then brought his concerns to Motor Vehicle Bureau Commissioner Ray Martinez and city Finance Commissioner Martha Stark, who determined that the city could raise $275 million in additional revenue.

Lafayette’s plan was to use the Insurance Information and Enforcement System (ITES), which Lafayette created through legislation that established a database to identify uninsured motor vehicles and allowed police and parking agents to utilize their handheld scanners to identify scofflaws and determine whether a vehicle had been stolen.