Municipalities could be renewing vehicle tags by year's end

While it could be months away, there might be reason to celebrate – specifically for everyone in Jefferson County who owns a vehicle. Local municipalities are discussing means to make it easier to renew your registration.

In July, representatives from eight area cities met with state officials to discuss legislation passed in the 2012 session that paves the way for Jefferson County municipalities to issue license plates.

“What I’m trying to do is make this as painless for citizens as possible,” said Rep. Paul DeMarco, who sponsored the legislation. “There’s no reason to force citizens to wait in four-hour lines. That’s not good government. We need to get it resolved, and cities want to help. That’s why I passed the bill.”

House Bill 498 allows the mayor of any Jefferson County municipality to designate an official to renew vehicle tags for that city’s residents. This would effectively create a fourth location for residents of a municipality to renew, as they could travel not only to existing county locations but also to their city’s designated official.

“What came out of the meeting is everybody agreed that was a good idea,” DeMarco said. “Right now, Jefferson County has 600,000 people renewing each year and only three locations. Add seven or eight cities, and all of a sudden that becomes 10 locations.”

DeMarco said the meeting, which included members from the State Revenue Commission, Public Examiner’s Office and Comptroller’s Office, introduced participating municipalities to software Jefferson County will begin using in October. Once the County installs its new programs, it can begin training cities to use it. DeMarco said training would take approximately three days, and after that a city would be able to handle the process on its own.

Great news for everyone who is scheduled to renew in October or after, there’s a chance – albeit slim – you could be renewing at your municipal complex in 2013.

“I would like to see it in place before the end of the year,” DeMarco said. “Citizens want to see this resolved, and we don’t need to keep it putting it off.”