Fla. budget negotiators OK increased fees

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Motor vehicle registration, driver license and court fees will be going up and tobacco taxes will increase, but Florida also will join every other state in waiving court filing fees for poor people through a series of budget conforming bills approved Tuesday by top House and Senate negotiators.

Meanwhile, Gov. Charlie Crist at a town hall meeting in Pensacola said he probably will sign into law the $1-a-pack increase in the state’s cigarette tax, now $34 cents. Crist initially had opposed it.

“I’m still not warm and fuzzy about it, but I understand and respect the process that our members of the House and Senate went through to get there, and I’m going to be respectful of it,” Crist said after returning to Tallahassee.

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