Problems w/ DMV & Ambulance/Fly Car Registrations

[trauma74 111]

Below I will describe a problem that Chester VAC had with DMV registrations:

A few years ago when we got our first Fly Car, I went to DMV to register it. I kindly asked the clerk if we could have "Official" plates for it. The clerk said "yes, no problem". At the time it was my understanding that because we receive a large portion of our budget from the Town of Chester, that we would be considered a "Political Subdivision". The Official Plates were issued to us and we never had a problem. Official plates never expire and it would just make things easier by not having to re-register the Fly Car every year. Back in June, we purchased a new Fly Car. I went to DMV and transferred the Official plates from the old vehicle to the new one. This plate number was on our Affirmation of Compliance paperwork that we filed with the NYS DOH to have the truck certified as an Emergency Ambulance Service Vehicle.

A few months ago, Orange County EMS Coordinator Michael Walton made mention in his monthly newsletter that the State was auditing agencies that have Official plates on any of their vehicles. Quite some time had passed and nothing was mention to us, so I figured we were still eligible to have these plates on our vehicle.

Last month, I sent in the Agency Recertification paperwork to renew our operating certificate. Last Friday I received a certified letter from Dana Jonas from the NYS DOH. This letter explained there has been an audit going on and that Chester VAC is not eligible to have Official Plates on any of the vehicles we own. The letter directed us to go to DMV, turn in the plates and reregister our Fly Car with regular passenger or commercial plates. This letter also stated that volunteer EMS agencies are exempt from having to pay fees for registration. As far back as I can remember, every year we filled out the DMV ambulance registration forms and there was no charge for this. In fact I had sent in our registration renewals the same day I received the letter.

This past Tuesday, one of my former Line Officers went to DMV with letter in hand and this is where the problem began. First, DMV personnel looked at him like he had two heads when he presented the letter from the NYS DOH. Numerous telephone calls were made to Albany because nobody at the DMV Office in Goshen had a clue about any of this (good job by the DMV officials in Albany to not pass this info along to all of the local offices).

Second, we were told that because Chester VAC is Incorporated that we are not exempt from DMV fees (even know we have been exempt for at least the 12 years that I have been a member) and that we would have to pay full price just like any other business to register our vehicle. We were told that we are considered a "For Hire" ambulance service. We told DMV personnel that we are the "Chester Volunteer Ambulance Corps, Inc. and that we are not "FOR HIRE". The personnel argued with us and stated multiple times that we are "FOR HIRE" because we bill for our services and that we are not exempt from DMV fees.

Third, we asked for regular passenger plates and we were told because the vehicle is over a certain weight and because we are "for hire" that we have to get Commercial plates for the truck.

So, 3 hours(yes, 3 hours!) and $110 later we had our truck reregistered. I want everyone to be aware of what transpired here. Even if you do not have Official Plates on any of your vehicles you may run into a problem when you go to reregister your ambulances/fly cars or register a new ambulance/fly car for the first time.

I hope that the NYS DOH will look into this matter before it gets too far out of hand with DMV doing things the wrong way.

If anyone has any questions or would like further information about this please feel free to email me or call me at 845-806-7111. Thank you.

Douglas S. DiBlasi - Captain

Chester Volunteer Ambulance Corps, Inc.

[Remember585 815]

I love the DMV!!

For almost 4 years, we have been fighting with the DMV to change the title for our 88B3. They keep listing it as a "GAS" vehicle when it is obviously a "DIESEL."

Interesting story Trauma!

[helicopper 1,050]

Sounds like you should have gone to another DMV office rather than deal with that nonsense!

You should contact DMV headquarters and have them straighten it out for you!

Good luck!