Peggy King
Cordele Dispatch
Cordele —
Not too many years ago, nearly all Georgia vehicles had one license plate which was easily recognizable from a distance. Now, there are over 100 valid special license plates in the state, and many Georgia automobile owners have purchased one or more of these special tags.
Buying one of these special tags is completely voluntary, and until May of this year, there was no renewal fee for some of them including the wildlife tags. Some of the tags had a $25 annual “special tag” fee, and all tags have an annual registration/decal fee of $20.
Now, however, owners of tags who were paying $25 renewal fees will be assessed $35 every year, and those who were paying no renewal fee at all also will be charged a $35 fee. State legislation created the new or additional fees which went into effect in May of this year.
Some of those special tags were created as fundraisers. Three of the most popular special tags feature wildlife and provide funding to conserve wildlife such as the bald eagle, sea turtles, trout and quail.
Three more help fund dog and cat sterilization which reduces the population of unwanted pets. Another makes mammography available to indigent women, and yet another provides funds for the organization “Choose Life” which assists pregnant women in crisis situations.
Because of the increase in fees, tax commissioners in the area say many auto owners are turning in their special tags. While a basic license plate has an annual registration fee of $20 plus whatever county taxes are owed on the vehicle, the special tags have those costs plus a $35 renewal fee.
Crisp County Tax Commissioner Cricket Adkins says the special tags actually belong to the vehicle owners, and they can keep them even if they elect not to pay the fee.
They CANNOT, however, leave the tag on their vehicle, and they must put it somewhere so that no one else can use it on a vehicle. “I have seen some really cute birdhouses with the special wildlife tags as a roof,” Adkins says.
Owners of special tags who choose not to pay the renewal fee may replace those tags with peach tags and pay only the $20 annual registration fee.
