Jump to content

Another Battle for Virginia!


R W Burgess

Recommended Posts

From our AACA Legislative Chairman, Tom Cox;

Virginia AACA Presidents and members,

As you are aware, we managed to beat back a bill, HB 288, last year in the General Assembly that sought to make substantial changes to the antique registration statutes. More importantly, others in the General Assembly, notably House Transportation Chairman Leo Wardrup and his aide Jack Hilgers, decided that they to wished to participate in changing the statutes governing our antique registrations as well. Changes that were discussed included requiring annual state inspections of all antiques, raising the required age for a vehicle to qualify for antique registration to 30+ years old, elimination of emissions exemptions, raising the cost of antique registrations, and elimination of the personal property tax exemption.

It has been my opinion that our victory last year would be short lived. Consequently, I was not surprised to receive a call inviting me and some other hobby representatives to participate in a "antique registration task force". later this month. Hopefully, we can walk away with a consensus solution to antique registration abuse without destroying the privileges we now enjoy. However, I am aware that many agencies, including commissioners of revenue, will be represented at this meeting hosted by DMV. Consequently, I am worried we may be very much on the defensive.

Please let all of your region and hobbyist friends know that we will likely need their full assistance to protect our privileges as this evolves. They may need to make calls, write letters, and perhaps even visit the General Assembly, but they cannot expect that someone else will do this for them. We cannot be successful without everyone's dedication.

In addition, I am compiling a list of charitable and municipal organizations that are supported by our hobby across the state. If you can relate that information to me along with any letters from those organizations supporting our hobby, it will be most useful. George Duke of the Richmond Region has agreed to sort this information out for us, once I have compiled it.

This has the potential to be the most detrimental legislative assault Virginia hobbyists have ever seen. Again, we cannot hope for a reasonable outcome without EVERYONE working on this. Remember, personal property taxes alone will force many out of the hobby. We will keep you informed.

Sincerely,

Tom Cox

Eastern Chairman Legislative Matters AACA

President Southwest Virginia Car Council

TNTOLDCARZ@AOL.COM

Link to comment
Share on other sites

And if I know the City of Danville, they will base PP values on Barrett-Jackson pricing instead of a proper appraised value. I know for sure I'll move back to Halifax County then, or at least register the cars to the Alton address.

I still say if the freaking DMV would police itself when issuing antique plates, all this could have been prevented. Leo Wardrup is the same one who pushed banning cell phone use by teen drivers and then made a crack about things changing when you turn 18 and could vote. If I were a young voter in Tidewater, I would work to vote that idiot right out of the chamber. Wardrup wouldn't dare push the ban to ALL drivers (as it should be)- he's afraid of a lost campaign dollar.

I'm going to print this and make flyers for cruise nights. I'll do what I can to get the word out. This is something that will never go away as long as there are legislators trying to make brownie points with local governments and who do not understand this hobby.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...