While there are no new taxes in the governor's proposed budget, there are new and higher fees for drivers, telephone customers, convicts on probation, businesses seeking to put their logos on state highway signs, utility companies seeking to move utility lines and elderly enrollees in a wide array of state-subsidized programs.

Specifically:

- Drivers with good driving records would have to pay more to get a violation dismissed. Instead of paying the state traffic court a $25 administrative fee, the driver would have to pay the full cost of the fine attached to the violation to keep the charge off his record. The fine for most moving violations is $75, according to a court spokesman.

- Cell phone users would be hit with a $50 fine for yakking on hand-held phones while driving.

- Telephone customers would pay 33 cents a month, instead of the current 26 cents, to help fund Internet service in schools and libraries.

- Prisoners on home confinement would be required to pay $6 a day, instead of $4, toward their supervision, and released prisoners would pay $20 monthly, which is $5 more than they are currently required to pay toward the cost of keeping them under watch while they are on probation.

- For the elderly, there would be a new $2 per trip fee for state-provided rides to the doctor, a meal site or what is called "elderly day-care." Last year alone, the Department of Elderly Affairs paid for more than 22,000 such trips,

- The elderly also face increases in co-pays for both home care and adult day-care. The minimum $3-an-hour co-pay for home care would go up by $1.50, and the minimum $5.50-a-day co-pay for time spent at an adult day-care center would also rise by a minimum of $1.50. Those with higher household incomes would pay between $2 and $2.50 more.

The hikes are aimed at saving the state $421,028 on home- and day-care costs for an anticipated 1,262 folks next year, though the governor's attempts to divert people from nursing homes could put much greater demand on these state-subsidized services.

- The Department of Transportation wants to charge utility companies a new $500 permit fee for digging up roads to move utility lines, plus 35 cents for every linear inch.

- The DOT is also seeking to charge businesses that have been allowed, since the 1970s, to place their logos on DOT&rsquos roadside signs for free. These are the blue signs on limited access highways (such as Route 4 or I-95) indicating services available at an upcoming exit, such as gas stations, lodging and restaurants. There are about 125 such "logo panels" now.

In the future, the privilege will cost a company an initial $7,200, and then a $1,200 annual fee for each interchange site and a $250 annual fee for one of the smaller blue-signs that direct traffic to a particular location.

- In flush years, a 2.3 percent hike in the federal disability payment known as Supplemental Security Income would be matched by a like increase in the average $64.50 SSI supplement the state currently provides an estimated 31,725 Rhode Islanders.

But next year, the state is planning to reduce its own supplement by the same amount the federal payment is expected to go up on Jan. 1. The net result: No loss, but no increase either for the SSI population.