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Registration Fees Increase in Montana

Drivers registering their cars and renewing their licenses in Montana should expect to see an increase in price in 2018.

This story by Freddy Monares originally appeared in the Bozeman Daily Chronicle.

During the legislative session earlier this year, lawmakers decided to tack on a new 3 percent administrative fee for vehicle registrations and renewal fees to compensate for a shift in revenues away from the state’s Motor Vehicle Division.

Lawmakers also created an $825 fee for luxury vehicles with a value of $150,000 or more, and an $800 fee for a motorhome that’s valued at $300,000 or more. Those fees will now be collected on motorhomes and luxury vehicles until they reach 10 years old. Owners of motorhomes that will be eight years old in 2017, for example, will have to pay the fee for the next two years.

Prior to the legislation, MVD contributed about $25 million to a special revenue account that, among other things, helped pay for road construction and maintenance projects. The division was one of the beneficiaries from the fund and received close to $10 million every two years, which made up roughly half of their budget.

The department estimates the three new fees will bring in about $11 million over the two-year budget cycle for MVD. That’s about $1 million more than what the division was receiving from the special revenue account.

The administrative fee will not be collected on any county-related fees. Drivers hoping to register expired plates from 2017 will be assessed the fee in the new year as well.

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