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DMV 'hauling permit' relief idea from St. Lawrence County board chair becomes law

Posted 10/8/18

An idea for mandate relief from St. Lawrence County Legislator Board of Legislators Chairman Kevin Acres, R-Madrid, is now state law. The bill (S2904A), sponsored by State Senator Patty Ritchie, …

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DMV 'hauling permit' relief idea from St. Lawrence County board chair becomes law

Posted

An idea for mandate relief from St. Lawrence County Legislator Board of Legislators Chairman Kevin Acres, R-Madrid, is now state law.

The bill (S2904A), sponsored by State Senator Patty Ritchie, R-Heuvelton, “eases mandates on local municipalities with vehicle fleets by eliminating the requirement that a local agency must file numerous ‘hauling permits’ every year for each vehicle and trailer in its fleet,” according to Ritchie’s office.

“The amount of time employees will save by not having to continually repeat this mundane process will allow them to focus on the important aspects of their jobs, bettering the lives of our taxpayers,” Acres said in a prepared statement from Ritchie’s office. “It is fantastic to know Senator Ritchie understands the struggles these unnecessary mandates force upon local municipalities and by working together, we can come up with common-sense solutions.”

“From the day I took office, eliminating unnecessary and time-consuming mandates has been a priority of mine,” Ritchie said in a prepared statement. “This bill not only accomplishes that, but by taking one more item off the plate of our overworked local governments, we are ensuring that time and resources can be better used to improve the lives of our hardworking, overburdened taxpayers. I appreciate Chairman Acres for bringing the idea for this bill to my attention.”

Approximately 2,000 municipalities and school districts in New York State own and operate a number of vehicles and trailers for a variety of reasons, including street repairs and hauling equipment. While municipalities are not required to pay fees to register the vehicles, the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) did require them to file separate paperwork, known as “hauling permits,” for each vehicle and trailer, and to keep those documents available for inspection, and to do so annually, Ritchie’s office said.

For agencies with roughly 35 vehicles, that meant filling out 300 separate forms each year to detail every possible combination of truck or trailer—or other piece of equipment—they might use on a project that year, the senator’s office said.

Through this new law, the annual requirement would be eliminated, municipalities would only need to obtain “hauling permits” one time, and those permits would be valid until the municipality removes the vehicle from operation, the senator’s office said.

Acres presented the idea to Ritchie through her “Mandate Relief Working Group.” Made up of representatives from county, village and town governments as well as school districts, the group “offers recommendations on mandates that New York needs to abolish or change to help local governments reduce costs to taxpayers,” Ritchie’s office said.

“In addition to saving county employees time, this measure also frees up NYSDOT employees from having to collect, file, review and store these non-essential documents,” according to a news release from the senator’s office.