New York state’s registration and decal fee for out-of-state trucks are “unconstitutional highway taxes,” the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association alleged in a class-action lawsuit filed with the state’s supreme court last week.
The state charges $15 for a certificate of registration and $4 for a decal for in-state and out-of-state trucks weighing more than 18,000 pounds that travel New York’s highways.
The lawsuit said the fees constitute an undue burden on interstate commerce in violation of the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
“In past years, OOIDA has been involved in legal actions against dozens of states resulting in tens of millions of dollars in direct refunds to more than 300,000 owner-operators who bore the economic burden of unconstitutional taxes,” OOIDA President Jim Johnston said. “Those cases succeeded in stopping the proliferation of unconstitutional, discriminatory and burdensome taxes in those states. Our goal here is to once again put a stop to this type of discriminatory taxation before it spreads to other states.”
Failure to pay the taxes on a timely basis can result in fines, interest, penalties and seizure of property, OOIDA said.
