I dunno about extortion, but the DMV renewal part is a huge pain in the ass. I lived in Middletown for a few years and they apparently split the city into 3 fire districts. If you live downtown your property tax pays for your fire tax bill. If you live in the outskirts you live in a separate fire tax district.

I went to renew my registration and they were like "I'm sorry, you owe $12 to the Westfield Fire District, you can't renew". Took a week to pay and have the debt cleared from the system, huge pain in the ass.