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Former Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann is among those representing plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit that suggests government truly does exist only to serve itself. In this case, the Bureau of Motor Vehicles is being accused of charging 3,423,315 Buckeye State residents lamination fees long after the BMV stopped laminated driver's licenses onsite.
"Despite the fact that the procedures changed as of July 2, 2018, the legislation authorizing the collection of the lamination fee did not change until July 3, 2019 and deputy registrars continued to collect the $1.50 lamination fee per Ohio Credential issues even though they were no longer performing the services for which the lamination fee was meant to compensate them," the lawsuit says, according to a report by WCMH-Columbus.
While $1.50 here and there might not seem worth a fight, $5.1 million certainly is. That is how much the lawsuit says Ohio BMV collected during the lapse. Dann is proposing Ohio residents be given a credit toward their next BMV visit or renewal.
Meanwhile, Ohio isn't planning to let that $1.50 per person slip through its fingers, as it has simply changed the name of the fee and will continue to charge it. Now, it is a "document authentication fee." In other words, lawmakers and bureaucrats don't care whether there's a good reason to skim a little more money from Ohioans, they just believe what's yours is theirs, and will play whatever shell game is necessary to take it.