Perhaps like me he first thought "$50 per year", so it's really a lot less than 14-cents a day. Unless you're making changes that cost $$$ every year. Anyway, does it matter? Tell the FCC, not doing any good beating it to death anywhere else.
There is nowhere that $5 is proposed, it is a $50 fee, not payable in yearly or daily increments. A $50 fee RIGHT NOW.
$50/ year equates to $0.136/ day. I rounded to $0.14. It should be simple of any child with a piggy bank to save up $50 over the period of a year. In the government personnel direct and indirect cost world, the actual cost of one FTE varies amongExecutive Branch agencies. I know it’s close to $200k/year in some but unsure specifically about the FCC. As the FCC is heavy on lawyers and exempt employees, it’s likely higher. The point being neither you nor I have a clue. Consequently, making any judgment as you imply is baseless.
I was explaining that in 10 years in which our license cycle is, would be 5 bucks year broken down, I never said it was a proposal. So by RIGHT NOW you mean even though my license isn't due for renewal for another 8.4 years I would have to pay 50 bucks even though I still have time left on my current license?
Obviously you have not read the NPRM. In it, it tells how the fees are calculated, what they are based on, the number of hours a FTE is assumed to work each year, and the amount to be added to cover benefits, etc. It's all there, you just have to do a little math. And the cost is NOT $50 per year, it is a $50 one time payment, that could cover up to 10 years. But maybe as short as a day. It all depends on the person.
No. It is a one time application fee (one time cost each time you file an application). But the immediate cost to you would be $50, not $5 or any other subset of that $50 fee. When you file the application, you would send $50 with it, not $5 or any other amount. The fee being paid is $50. This is the fee that must be paid, any other breakdown is an amortization of that fee.
Well, did you read the NPRM? If you did, the way that they (supposedly) calculate the fees is in there. Except at some point, they just throw that out and call for a "nominal fee".
If you read the NPRM, the cost is to be based on what it costs to process that application. I will guarantee you that lawyers are not processing these applications, it would be some sort of clerk position. Lawyers are not typing the info into a database either. If you do the math, based solely on renewals, it would pay for 36 full time clerks at the FCC, based on Washington DC rates of pay and the data provided in the NPRM. I don't think there are 36 FCC employees working full time just to process amateur renewals.
For these automated processes—new/major modifications, renewal, and minor modifications—we propose a nominal application fee of $50 due to automating the processes, routine ULS maintenance, and limited instances where staff input is required. Although there is currently no fee for vanity call signs in the Amateur Radio Service, we find that such applications impose similar costs in aggregate on Commission resources as new applications and therefore propose a $50 fee.
