FCC proposes new filing fee structure, new fees for ham radio

All it would take is a rewrite of the Communications Act.

The period of US amateur radio license fees was quite short....less than 10 years.

 

The FCC is funded entirely by regulatory fees. They don’t get general taxes. And spectrum auction proceeds go to the Treasury, not the FCC.

In other words, Fee For Service.

The trend over the last 20 years and more has been general tax reductions, or refusal to account for inflation which results in the same thing (see for example gasoline taxes). The balance must be made up by fees to provide the same level of service. In the case of the FCC, service to hams in terms of enforcement has been reduced over the years with budget and personnel cuts in the FCC enforcement bureau.

 

No. That would be classed as an "administrative modification" and not subject to the fees. The FCC NPRM says that it is "in the public interest" to keep their information up to date.

 

Because of the paperwork involved.

 

Ah...no.

The fees didn't start until the 1960s and lasted less than 10 years.

No fees in the 1950s.

But there were the lake sharks.....

Same as it ever was.

Here's proof:

https://forums.qrz.com/index.php?th...r-to-the-ve-system.698058/page-6#post-5409944

 

It looks like the way they figure up the "costs" is a minimum of $50 every time any anything is done ... even if it's automated. So, basically, under their cost assumptions, it's $50 for each renewal, regardless of how long it's for. i.e., it'd be either $50 for one ten year renewal, or $50 each for ten annual renewals.

 

Fee for service.

 

My parents didn't pay anything. Funding Amateur Radio was on me.

 

That was then. This is now.

 

Your comment presupposes FCC wouldn't have done this regardless of who is in office...not likely.

 

Except they can't sell much of it. International treaty and all that.

Nobody wants most of our bands anyway.

 

Which means what?

 

A correction to my correction!

In the time period I mentioned above, license terms (other than Novice) were only 5 years. So the price per year was actually double what the above figures indicate.

10 year license terms came about in the early 1980s.

 

I'm not sure how this is going to work out for me. I've got two vanity calls - the one I use and the one for my club's station for which I'm trustee. $50 isn't much, and I guess it's worth it for me, but it might also push me to just accept the next sequential Extra call, too - that wouldn't be so bad, but I would need to change other things like my license plates that would cost even more.

 

I would pay $50 a year.

Here's an idea:

Have a fund for new amateurs. Those of us who have been hams a long time can donate to the fund when renewing so that first-time licensees don't have to pay the full fee.