[BCVHFA] Fwd: ARLB005 Vanity call sign fee poised to drop slightly later this year

[K8CM]

>
>SB QST @ ARL $ARLB005
>ARLB005 Vanity call sign fee poised to drop slightly later this year
>
>ZCZC AG05
>QST de W1AW
>ARRL Bulletin 5  ARLB005
> From ARRL Headquarters
>Newington CT  March 27, 2006
>To all radio amateurs
>
>SB QST ARL ARLB005
>ARLB005 Vanity call sign fee poised to drop slightly later this year
>
>The FCC wants to reduce the Fiscal Year 2006 regulatory fee to 
>obtain an Amateur Radio vanity call sign to $20.10 for the 10-year 
>license term. The current vanity fee is $21.90. The Commission 
>proposed the new fee in a Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM), 
>"Assessment and Collection of Regulatory Fees for Fiscal Year 2006," 
>in MD Docket 06-68, released March 27. If ordered as proposed, the 
>new vanity fee would become effective in August or September. The 
>FCC is obligated to collect nearly $289 million in regulatory fees 
>during FY 2006 to fund its operations.
>
>Comments on the proposed fee schedule are due Friday, April 
>14.  Reply comments are due Friday, April 21. The FCC has projected 
>collecting $171,188 in vanity call sign fee receipts from 8500 
>applications in FY 2006.
>
>The vanity call sign fee has assumed somewhat greater significance 
>this year as the renewal window is  about to open for the first 
>Amateur Radio licenses assigned vanity call signs in 
>1996.  Applicants who wish to keep their post-1995 vanity call signs 
>must pay the vanity call sign regulatory fee in effect at the time 
>the renewal application reaches the FCC. Any Amateur Radio renewal 
>application may only be filed within 90 days of the license expiration date.
>
>Amateur Radio licensees holding vanity call signs granted prior to 
>1996 do not have to pay a regulatory fee when renewing. This is 
>because Congress did not begin requiring the FCC to annually recover 
>its regulatory costs until 1993. Additionally, such licensees are 
>not specifically tagged as vanity call sign holders in the ULS.
>NNNN
>/EX