Don’T Plan On Getting Tabs Quickly

Bring along a book and a willingness to wait if you plan to license your car tabs this week.

The supervisor of Spokane County’s motor vehicle office expects to be overrun with drivers wanting to renew their tabs at the new $30 rate.

“We’re going to get lots of customers,” Ellen Marsh said.

Initiative 695, approved by state voters last November, replaced vehicle excise taxes with a flat $30 fee. Today is the first day the licensing office will be open since the law took effect Saturday.

Many drivers chose to wait to renew their tabs in 2000, either parking cars with expired tabs or driving and risking a $71 ticket.

Spokane drivers whose registrations expired in December don’t necessarily have to rush into a licensing office today. The Spokane County sheriff’s office announced Friday it will not start ticketing such drivers until Jan. 14. And the Spokane Police Department is recommending that its officers not cite drivers with December expirations until Jan. 10.

Licensing officials are expecting to do several thousand more renewals this month - by mail and in person - than the usual 33,500.

Combine that with a new law requiring people to replace their plates every seven years and the licensing office is sure to look like Nordstrom during a fire sale.

Motorists with I-695-related questions can call a toll-free hotline set up by the state Department of Licensing at 1-877-604-2288.

Marsh and County Auditor Vicky Dalton suggested several things that might smooth the renewal process:

Bring in your old license plates if you have to replace them. The state Department of Licensing wants to recycle them.

Avoid the rush. If your tabs aren’t due today or later this week, wait until next week.

Mail in your renewal form, even if you have to get new license plates. The purple form that tells you to replace your old plates doesn’t include a return envelope, but you can still send your check to the Spokane County Motor Vehicle Licensing Office, 1116 W. Broadway, Spokane, 99260. They’ll mail out your new plates.

Get your paperwork together before you get to the motor vehicle office. That includes your renewal form and your emissions inspection if it’s needed.

Don’t make out your check until the licensing clerk gives you a total, because various fees will increase the $30 flat fee.

Go to one of nine private businesses that license vehicles. It’ll cost you a few dollars more, but, hey, you’re only paying $30 for the tabs. (See box that runs with this column for addresses.)

A friendly reminder

Emissions testing centers won’t be open today or any Monday from now on.

The new hours at Spokane County’s two testing centers will be Tuesday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. They are located at 920 N. Hamilton and 211 S. Howe.

Also, the test fee increases from $12 to $15 this year.

Another friendly reminder

A new state law requires drivers to treat nonworking traffic signals as four-way stops.

In the past, laws weren’t clear about what should happen at an intersection where the light has failed.

Reader question

Why don’t the traffic lights at Market and Greene and Market and Freya switch to flashing lights late at night and into the early morning hours?

Too often, cars and trucks traveling Market have to wait for a light to cycle when there’s no traffic on the side streets.

Answer

Late at night, the light is supposed to stay green for Market traffic unless there are cars on the cross streets, said Spokane City Traffic Engineer Don Ramsey.

If cars along Market are waiting for a light to cycle, there likely is something wrong with the detection system and it needs to be fixed, Ramsey said.

Whether to switch a traffic signal to a flasher at night is the type of question traffic engineers like to debate, he said.

While flashers save money, people tend to drive faster when they see a flashing yellow.

Since Market carries a lot of heavy trucks, the switch could be dangerous, Ramsey said.

Hot spot

Weather-permitting, eastbound Interstate 90 traffic will be reduced to one lane Tuesday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The work to open a third east-bound lane requires dry weather, so it may be postponed.

These sidebars appeared with the story: NUMBERS

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IF YOU GO Longer hours

Nine private businesses license vehicles in Spokane County. Many are staying open longer this week to accommodate the expected crush of people. Call the office for the hours.

Spokane Valley Auto Licensing, 9405 E. Sprague, 928-7981.

Auto Licensing Services, 9203 E. Trent, 926-9390.

Southside Auto Licensing, 2933 E. 29th, 534-6022.

Deer Park Licensing Agency, 222 W. Crawford, 276-2177.

Al Paulsen Licensing, 5202 N. Market, 487-1085.

Northside Auto Licensing, 9323 N. Division, 468-2136.

Cheney Auto Licensing, 420 Second, 235-6110.

Downtown Auto Licensing, 613 S. Washington, Suite 202, 455-8320.

Wendle Ford Auto Licensing, 4803 N. Atlantic, 484-7416.