 Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White announced Aug. 1 his office will resume
mailing license-plate-renewal reminders. Funds from the stopgap budget passed
June 30 will allow White’s office to mail reminder notices to vehicle owners
starting in August.
White’s office suspended mailing license-plate-renewal reminders as of October
2015 to save $450,000 a month during the state’s budget crisis. As a result,
many more Illinoisans have renewed their license plates this year. In fact, over
476,000 motorists received $20 fines for late vehicle-registration renewal in
the first five and a half months of 2016, compared with around 214,000 people
from January through mid-June 2015, according to data the secretary of state’s
office provided to the Belleville News-Democrat.
The lack of mailed license-plate-renewal reminders resulted in the state of
Illinois receiving an increase of $5.24 million in late fees during the first
five and a half months of 2016, according to the Belleville News-Democrat.
Between January and June 21, 2016, Illinois vehicle owners paid $9.53 million in
fees for renewing their license plates late, up from $4.29 million during the
same period in 2015.
Illinoisans who renew their vehicle registrations late are subject to a fee of
$20 in addition to the $101 renewal fee, and anyone driving with expired
registration risks traffic tickets as well.
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 Although the secretary of state reinstated the mailing of renewal
notices, he did urge vehicle owners to sign up for online renewal
reminders and said his office is also looking for other ways to save
taxpayers money. According to a report in The Southern Illinoisan,
the secretary of state’s office is drafting a bill that would allow
it to offer ad space in mailed notices and take people who have
signed up for email license-plate-renewal reminders off the mailing
list.
White reported that 2.3 million people have signed up for email
registration-renewal reminders, 800,000 of whom have done so since
October 2015. (Illinois vehicle owners can sign up online here for
email reminders of registration-renewal deadlines.)
In his Aug. 1 announcement, White said, “The driving public paid the
price for the budget impasse and it proved to be an unfair burden.”
Illinois’ “driving public” is just one group of unwitting victims of
state politicians’ refusal to pass a budget taxpayers can afford.
Illinoisans need their lawmakers to prioritize core government
services and the long-term financial stability of the state over
propping up an unaffordable system that benefits politicians and
special interests.
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