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License renewal reminders face cut

State says it could save millions by eliminating postcards sent in mail

By Stephanie Rice
Published: February 22, 2011, 12:00am

To sign up for e-mail vehicle or boat registration renewal reminders

Want the government to encourage personal responsibility?

Senate Bill 5727 is for you.

If passed, the state Department of Licensing would stop mailing cards to remind you it’s time to renew your vehicle registration.

Tony Sermonti, department spokesman, said not sending out 6.5 million cards a year would save about $3.8 million.

The cards are mailed only as a courtesy, he said.

“Our budget is being cut,” Sermonti said. “We have to streamline.”

Sermonti said vehicle owners can sign up for online notification.

Otherwise, “a great reminder is to look at your license plate,” Sermonti said.

The proposed bill, sponsored by State Sens. Scott White, D-Seattle, Mary Margaret Haugen, D-Camano Island, and Paull Shinn, D-Edmonds, at the request of the department, authorizes charging people $5 a year to still receive notices in the mail.

If people don’t want to pay to have the government remind them of something that’s on a sticker on their license plate, they can sign up to receive free reminders by e-mail.

The bill is scheduled for a public hearing today before the Senate Transportation Committee.

Sermonti said the department would do a public outreach campaign and would not just abruptly stop sending notices.

Clark County Auditor Greg Kimsey, who oversees auto licensing, has already heard what some members of the public think about the state not sending out renewal notices. The practice was stopped about a year ago for boat owners, Kimsey said. “People get cranky about it,” he said.

He said the renewal notice cards do come in handy for his staff, as all they have to do is scan a bar code to retrieve the owner’s information.

Otherwise, employees have to type in a license plate number. Or a name, when people don’t know their license plate number.

“It might not seem like a big deal to do data entry, but when you’re dealing with thousands and thousands of those things, those keystrokes make a difference,” Kimsey said.

However, if the legislation succeeds in getting more vehicle owners to do their renewals online, he’s all for it.

“I like the idea of motivating people to do their transactions online,” Kimsey said. “I’m completely supportive of people having to take more responsibility for themselves. I’m all for that.”

Under Gov. Chris Gregoire’s proposed 2011-13 budget, the Department of Licensing’s total budget is $304 million.

In the proposed budget, it notes that collecting $5 each from drivers who still want to receive a notice in the mail would raise an estimated $3.2 million in the first year.

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