New vehicle fees to go into effect

A new law that goes into effect Jan. 1 will change the registration and title fees for some vehicles in Iowa.
For most vehicle owners, their vehicle registration fees will not increase if their car, pickup truck or sport utility vehicle was titled and registered before Jan. 1.

The changes depend on when the vehicle was titled and registered, the vehicle's age, the vehicle's registration fee due date, vehicle type and changes that occur after Jan. 1 to the vehicle's tonnage or usage.

"For most people, they don't have to worry," said Jim Pregon, deputy Johnson County treasurer. "Most of the vehicles don't change that much."

The fee increase will add revenue for the state's Road Use Tax Fund, Iowa Department of Transportation spokeswoman Dena Gray-Fisher said.

"It's not going to be any higher for your vehicle registration fees than you pay now," she said.

According to the Iowa DOT's TIME-21 Web site, Iowa's public road system will experience a $4 billion shortfall in funding for construction and maintenance of public roads over the next 20 years.

People who register their vehicle in December or January saw two options in the envelope they received from the Johnson County Treasurer's office. Owners who pay before Dec. 31 get the current law, while those who pay Jan. 1 or later are under the new law. Those who pay the lower fee under the current law will continue to pay that amount next year, Pregon said.

Until Dec. 31, cars have the same registration rate the first through fifth year of ownership, with the fee dropping the sixth, seventh and ninth years, Pregon said.

Under the new law, the registration fee won't drop until the eighth year, and again the 10th and 12th years, Pregon said.

"It'll stay where it's at another couple of years before it drops," he said.

For example, someone with a 2005 vehicle won't see their first drop in registration fees until the eighth year, 2013, rather than for the sixth, he said.

"Overall, the biggest change will start with 2010 model trucks," Pregon said, calling the fee change a "significant jump" for personal use trucks.

That's because personal use trucks will have a registration fee like an automobile, rather than the flat fee trucks have now, unless registered as a business trade truck.

For people who currently own a truck, their registration fees won't change unless there is a change to the vehicle's tonnage or usage, he said.

Although most of the focus is going to the new registration fees, the cost of titles also is increasing with the new law from $15 to $25, Pregon said.

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