(Spirit Lake)– Some big changes will go into effect the first of the year in Iowa when it comes to motor vehicle transactions. Dickinson County Treasurer Kris Rowley says one of the more notable ones is that residents will be able to do most of their motor vehicle transactions in any county in Iowa…
“That will include titling vehicles, trucks. It will include junking certificates, salvage titles, all kinds of things. They’ll be able to go to any county that’s convenient. It will especially help people that are buying cars in one county, live in a different county. This way they’ll be able to go into the county essentially where they bought a vehicle and with the previous owner get it all taken care of.”
Rowley says registration renewals will still have to be taken care of in the county in which you reside…
“Most of the County Treasurer expenses for registrations are printing and mailing and we want to make sure that those counties still have the ability to capture that revenue because there’s a lot of work that’s done in our offices. That also helps us being the managing county and it helps with other things that can come up. So the renewals will stay, but those can be also be done online or by mail so that’s easy for a citizen to do anywhere regardless of where they live. Another one is mobile homes. Mobile homes are taxed a little bit different. They’re taxed sort of like a property tax, we call them mobile home taxes. So mobile homes will be titled in the county where they actually are residing at, wherever that mobile home sits that’s the county that will be in charge of titling that mobile home.”
Rowley adds some fee increases will also go into effect Wednesday…
“A lot of the things we do in the motor vehicle world are actually financed through property taxes, and this will help make that a better situation all across, so the people that are actually buying the cars and titling them will pay just a little bit more and that amount will be retained by County Treasurer Offices. So that will include title fees. They’ll raise by $10.00 up to $35.00 and that will include security lien notations, they’ll also raise by $10.00, and then that five percent fee that you have to pay, it used to be called use tax, now it’s called to pay for new registration, that will also increase by $10.00. So those things all go into effect January 1st.”
Rowley says this will be the first time in many years those fees have been adjusted…
“A very long time. Between 21 and 36 years. Prices have gone up, wages have gone up, insurance has gone up, and that’s why. A lot of motor vehicle services have been financed by property taxes so this will help make that more user driven. It will be a better situation for counties and for citizens all across Iowa.”
Rowley notes there is an important factor to keep in mind if you do decide to title your vehicle in a different county…
“You may want to just stay with your county but if you do end up getting it titled in a different county you will be issued the title from that county along with the plate from that county. Now there are some plates that don’t have county names on them. The collegiate plates are an example. U of I plates, Iowa State plates, Luther college plates, that kind of thing. They don’t have a county name on them, but almost all of the rest of the plates do. So if that’s something you want to have your own county name on, you can just bring the plates in that are issued in a different county and switch them out for five dollars. So it’s not a big deal. But that is something I want people to be aware of.”
Rowley adds the changes that go into effect January 1st do NOT affect small trailers or homemade trailers. She says those will still need to be handled in the county where the owner actually resides.
