A bill mandating that all government entities within Florida pay the state's $1 tire fee and $1.50 battery fee on all new tires and new and/or reconditioned batteries has been signed into law.
Under previously negotiated state buying agreements, selling dealers could not charge agencies the fees. However, dealers were still responsible for remitting the fees to those agencies.
"All of our members are required to pay the mandatory fee to the state when they sell a new tire or battery," says Shawn Long, president of the Florida Automotive Trades Association (FATA).
"A lot of our business comes from servicing state and local government agencies and when these agencies don't pay the fees, it costs us money."
