Portsia Smith of The Free Lane Star posted the following report on Caroline Va’s decision to move to a permanent county sticker.
BY PORTSIA SMITH
After next April, Caroline County residents won’t have to stand in line to buy decals for their vehicle windshields.
But they will need to scrape those old decals off just one more time–replacing the current stickers with the new ones by April 2011.
Those decals then become permanent.
Tuesday night, the Board of Supervisors voted 5-0 to join many other counties and make motor vehicle decals permanent.
The change is expected to generate an estimated $806,385 in revenue, said County Administrator Percy Ashcraft.
The amended ordinance requires all motorized vehicles currently licensed in Caroline as of Jan. 1, 2011, to require permanent decals. The decal sales will begin in early 2011, with a deadline to display of April 1, 2011.
Once permanent decals have been sold for all vehicles for calendar year 2011, no additional decal will be required unless a new or used vehicle is purchased.
Once a permanent decal has been established in 2011, a license registration fee will be assessed annually on all motor vehicles, Ashcraft said.
The annual fee will be payable June 5 with the collection of the first half of the individual’s property taxes.
The fees are $30 for all vehicles, with the exception of a $25 fee for motorcycles and similar two-wheel vehicles.
Purchasers of new or used vehicles and/or new residents during calendar 2012 and thereafter will be required to file with the commissioner of the revenue within 10 days of the purchase date or date of residence, Ashcraft said.
After filing with the commissioner, the treasurer will issue a permanent decal for the new vehicle or resident.
You can find more information about taxes and county fees at the Treasurer’s webpage
The current information from that site has the following important dates on tax payments:
Here is the current information of county vehicle / car taxes for Caroline:
And finally the Caroline County Real Estate Tax Rates:
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
So, it looks like next year we’ll need to pay $23 for the new sticker in the spring, then pay $30 per vehicle in the summer… (So $53 for next year alone) Then we pay the $30/year (a $7 increase) to the county after that, when they also save money because they’ll no longer need to print stickers for everyone. (Just for new vehicles)
It’s just a fee increase hidden by calling it a convenience. I really don’t think we should have to double pay for next year…
Eric,
I’m not sure why we even need a sticker. Some surrounding counties have done without. I’m not sure what the actual intent is, but it does seem to be a benefit to the county.