Are we becoming citizens of communist countries such as Cuba and Venezuela?

Sometimes I wonder if after 61 years in this beautiful city I am still living in Cuba where the communist government tells citizens where to go and when. Where, with eagle eyes, they check your whereabouts, when you leave your home and how long you stay away from home.
I was surprised to learn about Assembly Bill 483, which passed in the 2019 Nevada Legislature directing the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to gather an odometer reading at the time of any original vehicle registration, registration renewal or vehicle sale.
It is claimed this is a pilot project beginning on October 1 and lasting until December 31 and that there are no fees, taxes or fines associated with the program. The pilot project is intended to help lawmakers make future decisions on highway funding. Just sit and wait, come December 31 we are going to be hit by a tax amount or you will receive a reminder card for your registration which will read: registration fee, government service tax, supplemental government service tax, technology fee and “Surprise” odometer fee.
The Department of Motor Vehicles further claims that to help reduce the impact, they will use the odometer reading from emissions tests performed in Clark and Washoe counties, which they already do. Owners must submit odometer readings on all cars, trucks, buses and recreational vehicles of any size or fuel type. The data from odometer readings will be used only to compile reports of total miles driven on our roads and highways for the Nevada Legislature.
The Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles news report reads in part, “The Nevada DMV is required to collect mileage data to help plan for future road construction. It’s the law!”
I thought it was said that this is a pilot program running through December 31, now they already state that, “It’s the law!”
They are treating us as though we were blank-minded children. “The DMV is required to collect mileage data to help plan for future road construction.” They are already telling us to be prepared for a tax that will get us one way or another for future road construction. Assembly Bill 483 backers say “future lawmakers might want to update the state’s infrastructure funding model with a vehicle-miles-driven tax and need information about how much people drive to make smart choices.” See what I am talking about? Vehicle-miles-driven TAX.
I don’t believe my mileage is anybody’s business. I don’t believe the government needs to know how many miles I drive in a year whether a lot or none at all.
Are they also going to install kiosks at the border with California to check my mileage on the way back home and ask questions about the 100 or so miles I drive while in California?
I firmly believe this is an imposition on our privacy. They already have that information every time we pass the smog test. What else do they want?
We already paid the price for our vehicles, insurance, and three different taxes to register our vehicles. Road construction should be the problem of the local government.
As I said in my column last week, we are already controlled with orders to buckle up when driving and when we should water our lawns; smart meters are imposed on us by Nevada Power regardless if such a meter is affecting our health and now the local government wants to dominate us with vehicle-miles-driven? I honestly wonder if those electrical smart meters are forced on us to have more people with lung diseases.
There is a lot of money involved because when you need to go to an emergency room, you don’t only pay for the hospital services, you also need to pay separate fees for emergency room doctors, which you only see once and their bill is sky high.
What else can we expect? We already feel oppressed enough. “Your odometer reading will be received electronically via your emissions test. However, if you’re not required to smog and you don’t provide your odometer reading, you will be unable to renew your registration online or at a kiosk. You will be required to renew in person at a local DMV office or renew by mail,” according to a press release but that makes me wonder: is it a Pilot Program or a forcible Pilot Program?
It seems like everyone is obligated to participate in the forcible Pilot Program that is already in place because every time the renewal of one tag registration is done, the mileages are in the paper work of the smog test that is required for every one in Clark County to renew one’s car registration.
As I said above, don’t be surprised if coming January 2020 there will be another tax added to all Clark County residents who drive an automobile because it seems like Clark County is the stepchild of Nevada and all the extra charges, regardless of what name they give to them, are enforced or applied to the County of Clark.
Are we becoming citizens of communist countries such as Cuba, Venezuela and all the other communist countries in Latin America?
My name is Rolando Larraz, and as always, I approved this column.
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Rolando Larraz is Editor in Chief of the Las Vegas Tribune. His column appears weekly in this newspaper. To contact Rolando Larraz, email him
at: Rlarraz@lasvegastribune.com or at 702-272-4634.