Cities Forced To Stop Charging Crash Tax
Posted: 5:47 pm EDT June 23, 2009
CENTRAL FLORIDA -- In just a few days, some Central Florida cities will have to stop charging their crash taxes.Presently, Sumter County, Winter Park, Minneola, Longwood and Ocala, charge an extra fee to drivers who cause accidents in their cities, in order to help pay for the firefighters who respond.Eyewitness News learned the Governor signed a bill to stop them, which means the cities will have to pay for the crash response themselves.In Winter Park, 80 percent of the accidents that happen are caused by people who don’t live there.July 1, the cost of the wrecks will fall back on Winter Park taxpayers.Currently, If a driver crashes in Winter Park they will get a bill for the rescue service provided."I think I would hit the roof, I know I would," said driver, Marny Minarsch.Critics called how the city has recouped the cost of accidents since 2005, unfair."I'm spending money in their town so why would they want to tax me again," she Minarsch said.Also, car insurance doesn't cover everything.A representative from the American Insurance Association said that many companies are refusing to pay.Eyewitness News discovered that in 2008, Winter Park collected roughly $52,000. Longwood generated almost $39,000 from the crash tax and Ocala raked in $98,000 out of $500,000 that was billed to insurance companies.July 1, it will be illegal to fine drivers for wrecks they cause and the burden for cash-strapped cities will be to find that money somewhere else.
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