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About 200,000 Arizona Drivers To Receive Public Safety Refund Check

Hundreds of thousands of drivers will be getting refund checks from the Arizona Department of Transportation.

The move is in response to a controversial public safety fee that was included as part of vehicle registration renewal costs, and later rescinded.

Checks worth $32 will be sent out to about 200,000 Arizona drivers, totaling about $6.6 million.

Legislators approved the fee in 2018 to pay for the Arizona Department of Public Safety, which runs the state Highway Patrol.

The fee was initially estimated to be $18 a year, but ADOT updated it to $32, a move that was met with public outcry and the eventual rescinding of the law.

State Sen. Michelle Ugenti-Rita (R-Scottsdale) told Capitol Media Services that ADOT was supposed to stop charging the fee in May, but collected it in June, triggering the state budget to include the upcoming refunds.

Vaughan Jones was a reporter at KJZZ from 2020 to 2022.