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The days of double taxation are over in Georgia, at
least for motorists.
Gov. Sonny Perdue has signed into law a bill that stops
cities from imposing hidden taxes on motorists. SB 348 prohibits local
governments from charging fees for responding to traffic accidents. Such fees
increase insurance costs for consumers when they are wrongly billed to
insurers.
“Governor Perdue and the legislature have delivered a consumer
safeguard to Georgia
drivers,” said Robert Herlong, vice president and regional manager for the
Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI). “This measure will
restore confidence and control to drivers by not allowing local governments to
impose a hidden double tax on consumers that ultimately increases the cost of
auto insurance.”
The debate over hidden taxes on motorists is hardly unique
to Georgia.
Legislatures across the country have taken up the issue of third-party
collection services that attempt to capitalize on the pressures many local
governments face to balance their budgets without increasing taxes. Local
officials are promised windfalls if they enact a service fee charge back
program when police or fire departments are called to respond to an automobile
accident. Insurers pay all appropriate bills and charges associated with
an accident based on the language in the policyholder contract. The services
provided by the local police and fire departments are already paid for through
property and other local taxes.
PCI is working with lawmakers throughout the country to ban
fees for routine accident response services. Similar legislation has been
signed into law in Pennsylvania, Missouri, Tennessee, and
Indiana.
“Public safety is a basic role of government, and Georgia
residents should not have to pay twice for emergency response services,” said
Herlong. “These accident response fees add unnecessary costs to insurance
coverage that ultimately affect the premiums consumers pay. With this law,
unsuspecting motorists in Georgia
will not have to worry about getting hit with these fees.”
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