A pending proposal to hike auto-registration fees by up to $100 will fall hardest on motorists of modest means--and should be put to vote of the people. That's the conclusion of Coloradans randomly surveyed by ColoradoSenateNews.com on Denver's 16th Street Mall Wednesday.

Senate Bill 244, introduced by Democrat Sen. Abel Tapia, of Pueblo, attempts to fund transportation projects by slapping up to $100 in new fees on the annual registration tab for most Colorado cars and trucks, with older vehicles assessed the highest amounts.

Legislative Republicans, almost all of whom oppose the measure, have derided it as a "car tax" disguised as a fee and have lambasted it for creating the heaviest burden on people who least can afford it: the owners of older vehicles.

A sampling of popular opinion outside the Capitol turned up similar sentiments. A common view was that expressed by Ron Cutshall, a retiree and senior citizen who drives an older truck.

"It's not fair. I barely get by," Cutshall said. "I can't afford any more. We're squeezed as it is."

Jill Duncan, who works in software sales, said she understood the connection between auto-registration fees and transportation funding, but she didn't like the way the proposal hit owners of older cars the hardest.

All who participated agreed that any such proposal should be submitted to voters first, and they questioned whether it really was a fee--a designation that would let lawmakers impose it on the public without a vote by the public.

"I think it should go to a vote," said Catherine Behan, who said attempts to soft-pedal the proposed assessment as a fee amounted to "semantics."

"It doesn't sound like they're being straight with me," Behan said. She also noted that, with the economy headed into recession, "The timing is bad."

Jerri Sims also supported putting the measure on the statewide ballot, noting the amount of the increase was tough on low-income people who have "already paid their registration fees."

Duncan agreed.

"I'd rather see it go to a vote because I don't like the way it's worded right now," she said.