Obviously, a fee totally out of proportion to the “service” the government provides is a “hidden tax.” But if the fee is in line with the service, then I view it as better — the citizens who benefit pay the fee/tax and the people who do not have cars, eat out, get massages, or valet park do not have to pay. If it works like it should, I PREFER fees.

Now, I don’t know about $1,500 to regulate valet parkers. Seems high, so maybe it is a “hidden tax.” But (1) I don’t know you are right about that fee, or maybe that only covers companies with 100+ valets or something and (2) I don’t know what the City department head would say about his/her budget, how much time they spend dealing with citizen complaints about valets, fining companies for damaging cars, etc.