Chicago motorists who fail to buy city vehicle stickers beware: Chicago City Clerk Susana Mendoza wants to crack down on scofflaws.
The City Clerk’s office plans to use the Secretary of State vehicle registration data to go after the estimated 100,000 to 150,000 car owners who live in Chicago but don’t buy the decals – as city law requires. It’s part of an effort to bring in an additional $5 million next year.
“Clearly people have been given every opportunity to get in compliance in an easy way. One out of every four motorists buys their sticker online. You can do it in your pajamas or in the buff. We don’t charge an additional fee for it. It couldn’t be any easier,” City Clerk Susana Mendoza said after a budget hearing at City Hall on Tuesday.
Currently, parking enforcement aides can write a ticket if there is no city sticker is posted on a car parked on the street. However, Mendoza said the city cannot access private property such as private parking garages to ticket scofflaws.
Chicagoans are aware they need to comply with the city sticker law, which currently requires motorists purchase the decal annually, she said.
“That universe of people, which is very small compared to 1.3 million, is a universe that purposefully chooses to be non-compliant. We need to now . . . use a little bit stronger tools to go after that universe and make sure they do pay their fair share,” she said.
In addition to sending scofflaws notices already, she would like to get legislative authority to issue tickets by mail and have such a ticket treated the same as if it were placed on the car’s windshield and count as one of three unpaid tickets that would trigger the car getting booted.
It’s the only one tool Mendoza would disclose in an enforcement package specifically to target scofflaws.
Chicago residents who use their vehicles in the city are required to buy and affix city stickers in their car windshields. Car owners who don’t comply can face a $200 ticket plus a $60 late fee.
The revenue from city stickers – estimated at $109 million in the proposed $8.9 billion budget for 2015 – funds the repair and maintenance of city streets. In 2014, there were 5,179 vehicle damage claims filed with the clerk’s office specific to potholes, which was twice the number than the previous four years combined, Mendoza said.
This year, the city sticker program began its year-round staggered system, with stickers expiring six months from the time car owners have to renew their state license plates.
Residents had short- or long-term purchase options to get on a year-round city sticker renewal schedule. The cost of the city sticker was based on the number of months the sticker was valid. The average annual cost for a city sticker was $90 in 2014.
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Because of the popularity of the long-term purchase option, the City Clerk’s Office announced on Tuesday that it will give Chicagoans starting in January the option of buying city stickers good for two years. About 15 to 20 percent of motorists are expected to opt for the two-year sticker.
“Given the chance to pay more for the convenience of a vehicle sticker that was valid for a longer period of time, nearly 70 percent of our customers chose to do so,” Mendoza said during the budget hearing. “This new service for customers is not going to cost our office a penny. In fact it’s going to save us money on things like stickers, toner, printing and postage.”
Residents who take advantage of the two-year city sticker will avoid the price increase set for 2016. City sticker prices get adjusted every two years beginning in 2014 for inflation based on the Consumer Price Index.
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