With tabs costing only $30 per vehicle, Could we pay for a couple years at a time? And how about chipping in for those unable to afford the thirty dollars? Kind of like helping out with electric bills. I think this is a great idea for those who feel our state needs more tax money. I could license my car for five years instead of just one. Mean time the state could wean itself off our our money.

-- Sig Landoe (slandoe@bentonrea.com), October 14, 1999

Answers

Sig

I think the farthest in advance you can buy tabs is 16 months. When I had my '95 Black Mustang GT the tabs were due in August. But I would buy them in March or April depending when I got my tax return back.

Asked the clerk once, and I think I remember her saying 16 months.

Ed - wish I had the GT back instead of my truck. Wife won't let me fix up her GT.

-- Ed (ed_brigdes@yahoo.com), October 15, 1999.

I found your idea interesting for two reasons:

1) Allows people who believe the legislature would change it back after 2 years to "stock up" on plate fees. 2) If people adopted the idea in force, marginal costs for administering license tabs should go down.

I think there's one *huge* problem that would require a legal change to overcome--emissions testing.

IIRC, current law requires you to get an emissions test every other year (newer vehicles) before your tabs will be issued. If you could buy tabs for the next 5 years, you presumably would get an emissions test once every 5 years. I find it *highly* unlikely that a bill reducing the frequency of emissions testing would go anywhere in the legislature.

As I write this, it occurs to me that the emissions testing requirement *might* be an imposed regulation. If it is, I suppose your idea might be feasible.

-- Brad (knotwell@my-deja.com), October 15, 1999.

Brad

Doesnt it seem strange that the vehicles that are tested for emissions are the new less polluting ones. This is one of the dumbest things I ever heard. The older vehicles in this state are the ones creating more pollution and belching the clouds of black oil out the tail pipe.

I just dont understand why a car that just rolled of the line a year before needs to have its emissions tested.

Plus Im not saying all older cars are belching black smoke. The people in my Mustang Club keep their cars in great shape and tuned up. Thats all thats needed to cut a lot of pollution.

Ed  pointing out the obvious

-- Ed (ed_bridges@yahoo.com), October 15, 1999.