Fees

Highways are often regarded as the ultimate example of user-financed government. Motorists pay a variety of fees, from state and federal taxes on fuel to titling and registration fees on vehicles, to pay for their construction and maintenance. But are roads truly self-sustaining? A new study says absolutely not. Researcher Mark A. Delucchi of the University of California, Davis' Institute of Transportation Studies recently looked at the nation's total expenditures on roads and compared the result with the total collected in highway-related taxes and fees.

Maybe you've been on the fence about investing in a 529 college savings plan. You heard about high fees and how the tax benefits were going to disappear in a few years. And there are so many plans. Who has the time and know-how to choose one? It may be time to get off that fence. Fees have generally come down. Congress made the college plans' tax breaks permanent. And families now have a new tool designed to take the guesswork out of selecting a plan. With a college savings plan, you invest money in mutual funds where the cash grows tax-deferred.

If you vacation outside the country this summer, you might come home to find your checking account smaller than expected. Who raided it? It might have been your bank. The fees charged by banks as well as other financial institutions to use foreign automated teller machines can deplete cash faster than lunch in London. Some U.S. banks charge as much as $5, plus a percentage, every time a debit card they issued is used at a foreign ATM. Not that you would know it at the time. Unlike in the U.S., where you receive an on-screen warning if additional fees are to be collected for a machine withdrawal, these charges can be invisible until you receive your bank statement back home.

A mortgage-lending bill passed unanimously by state delegates last week and expected to come before the Senate today is being decried by fair-lending advocates, who fear homeowners would be hurt by the proposed increase in fees that brokers could charge for certain refinancing loans. Mortgage brokers, who link customers with lenders, account for nearly 70 percent of the home-loan business. They charge finder's fees that are a percentage of a loan's value, up to a state maximum of 8 percent.

DES MOINES, Iowa -- AT&T Inc. and Qwest Communications International Inc. say several Web companies and Iowa telephone carriers have bilked them of millions in a scheme that lets people throughout the United States call other countries for free. Web sites offering free chat rooms, podcasts and adult content also are involved, instructing consumers to dial Iowa phone numbers that let them access the services, Qwest said in a complaint filed Feb. 20 against 13 companies. That followed a Jan. 29 complaint from AT&T against eight of the companies.

A bill that could drastically increase the number of video poker games, pool tables and other amusement devices in Baltimore bars and convenience stores has been sent back to committee for amendments. City Councilman Robert W. Curran asked that the legislation be remanded to the Land Use and Transportation Committee on Monday. In a memo obtained by The Sun, Curran said he wanted the committee to add amendments that would increase licensing fees for the games. The bill was amended once before to increase such fees from $180 to $350.

NEW YORK -- You'd never consider donating $300 of your annual income to a bank, would you? If you're withdrawing cash from an ATM twice a week that could be just what you're doing. Cash machines are convenient, but the fees they charge cost Americans more than $4 billion a year, reports Bankrate.com. You pay an average $1.64 per transaction every time you withdraw money from an ATM owned by a bank where you don't hold an account. Tack on the average $1.25 your own bank charges for each withdrawal and you're looking at fees of about $300 a year.

A class action lawsuit is focusing fresh attention on a long-festering consumer issue in real estate: alleged steering of homebuyers to affiliated title, settlement and mortgage companies by large realty brokers - sometimes costing consumers hundreds of dollars compared with fees and services offered by nonaffiliated competitors. Two buyers in Minnesota filed suit Feb. 21 against Coldwell Banker Burnet Realty Inc, one of the largest realty firms in the state, charging that it breached its fiduciary duties under state law when it steered the buyers to its own title and settlement affiliate, Burnet Title, despite knowing that the affiliate's fees were significantly higher than those available from nonaffiliated firms.

TOKYO -- I almost packed a fishing rod. But the thought of making the local newspapers for illegally taking carp from the Imperial Ponds gave me pause. It's tough to recall what day it is here at the World Figure Skating Championships, where Bel Air's Kimmie Meissner was defending her title. If you want to try something different, try keeping skaters and stripers straight. Can't wait to get back and do some fishing. Right now, the only fish I'm seeing is sushi, and that's nothing but fancy bait.

The House of Delegates approved new fees on development yesterday to pay for the Chesapeake Bay cleanup, a proposal advocates say would also help reduce urban sprawl. The measure would charge developers based on the creation of "impervious surfaces" such as rooftops, driveways and parking lots that cannot be penetrated by stormwater, thus contributing to runoff into the bay. Development outside designated growth areas would be assessed at a higher rate, and builders could mitigate the fees by using environmentally friendly construction techniques.

Free companion ticket on British Airways What's the deal?: When you hear the name British Airways, do you immediately think of London? I do. British Airways actually flies to more than 300 destinations, which makes its new free companion ticket deal a much more interesting prospect. Even better, you and your companion can travel in any cabin. How do you get a free ticket for a friend? * Become an Executive Club member and register for the deal. * Take a round-trip flight on or before Jan. 29, and you'll get a free companion ticket.

Finally, the American people are burning with overdraft anger and starting a revolt against outrageous credit card interest rates, and it looks as though their elected leaders in Washington and the state capitols might actually do something about these parasitic practices by the bailed-out banks. One woman, Ann Minch, complained in a YouTube video about her bank raising credit card interest from 13 percent to 30 percent, and she appears to have launched a movement - another fine example of how the Internet and social media are changing the dynamics of society.

Many banks automatically cover your debit or ATM card transactions when you don't have enough money in your account, even if you never asked them to do it. It comes at a price, of course. Banks might charge $35 for each overdraft, no matter how small your transgression. Suddenly, a $3 blueberry muffin costs $38. But the days of enrolling you in an expensive overdraft protection program without your say-so may be numbered. Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd says he is drafting legislation that would require banks to get your permission before enrolling you in the service.

Bob Robertson watched quietly from the back of the room as the Howard County Council approved development review fees that might not cover the salary for the job he's held for a quarter-century. The agronomist remained stoic, even though the fees that will pay his and co-worker Geof Schoming's salaries are much lower than those requested by the independently run Howard County Soil Conservation District. He took some comfort in the council's promise during last week's session that if the fees do not cover costs, the agency can request during the county's annual budget review in April that they be raised.

The fight over who will review developers' erosion- and sediment-control plans and who will pay for that work entered a new phase Tuesday with the Howard County Council's unanimous approval of new fees for the services. The council's action means the independently run Howard County Soil Conservation District that does the work now can charge developers fees to pay the two employees who review the plans. Previously, the district used $220,000 in county funds - eliminated from the budget July 1. But the vote doesn't mean the issue is resolved.

On-time performance. The Department of Transportation said earlier this month that airlines' on-time performance was better in June, its most recent report, than it was a year ago, mostly because there were fewer flights. Summertime delays are still common, but there's no excuse for what happened recently when 47 passengers on a Continental Express flight were delayed six hours and ended up spending the night on a small, cramped plane at a Minnesota airport. "Passenger rights" legislation - which has yet to make it through Congress - would require airlines to allow passengers to disembark if the plane is delayed more than three hours.

As students head back to college, marketers are promoting prepaid cards as a way for young adults to learn financial responsibility and for Mom and Dad to monitor a child's spending. But a prepaid card can be an expensive teaching tool, and not necessarily the best one. Basically, parents buy a card, load it up with money and give it to a child to use like a credit card on campus. It's up to students to track their spending. Once the money runs out, parents can reload the card with more dollars.

The Obama administration is planning a broad reworking of the fees financial firms pay for their federal regulation, increasing the rates for big companies while easing the burden for smaller ones, officials said. The new two-tiered, pay-for-regulation approach is intended to partly cover the costs of more vigorous bank regulation and to create a new consumer financial protection agency. It reflects the administration's view that large companies are more complex and expensive to regulate, the officials said.

Fed approves acquisition of Towson's AmericasBank Capital Funding Bancorp Inc. in Baltimore said Tuesday its application to acquire AmericasBank Corp. has been approved by the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. The deal already has the blessing of the boards of both companies and AmericasBank shareholders, Capital Funding said. Details of the cash acquisition were not released. Towson-based AmericasBank, hobbled by losses in its mortgage-lending business, has three branches in Maryland.

Big changes are likely on the horizon for Maryland fishing licenses, and we're not just talking about swapping out a 9 for a 10 and a 10 for an 11. The reasons are simple: The 2007 law that temporarily raised license fees to put more money in the Fisheries Service piggy bank kicks the bucket June 30. And the federal government says that beginning in January, states must count and record all saltwater anglers, including those who have never before been...