The state senate says some car dealers have been getting a free ride and it’s time for it to stop.
Some members of the state senate say the system has gotten out of hand…that people who used to be dealers are still getting dealer plates—as many as they want.
Senator Kevin Engler of Farmington says the present system has let a lot of people escape paying taxes. He has told the Seante, "They don’t pay sales tax onthe vehicle and they don’t pay personal property tax. So we have thousands of cars being driven around this state by so-called dealers that have never sold a car."
Well, not thousands. But certainly hundreds.
The sponsor of the bill, former Washington car salesman John Griesheimer, cites revenue department figures showing there are 11-hundred dealers that have sold "zero cars," as he puts it, in the last year who are using 13-thousand dealer plates.
The Senate has sent the House a bill that will restrict the issuance of dealer plates in the future, based on the number of sales a dealer makes, ending the unlimited system the state has today