Sunday starts a new procedure of vehicle registration in Texas.
No longer will you be getting a sticker after your vehicle passes inspection.
Brazos County Tax Assessor-Collector Kristy Roe says you’ll notice inspection stations won’t charge as much. Roe says the state’s portion of the inspection fee will be paid at the time of registration.
Inspection stations will electronically send inspection information and will give you paperwork, which Roe says can also be used as proof during registration.
And you’re advised to keep your old inspection stickers on your windshield until you have your new registration sticker.
Click below for comments from Kristy Roe, visiting with WTAW’s Bill Oliver.
News release courtesy of Brazos County Tax Assessor-Collector Kristy Roe:
The Texas Department of Motor Vehicles and County Tax Offices across the state have been working for the past several months getting ready for the implementation of the syncing of vehicle inspections with vehicle registrations. This first year will be a time for all Texas motorists to work toward bringing what has been two dates on their calendar together.
Starting March 1st, vehicle inspection stations will inspect vehicles as usual, but they will not collect the state’s portion of the inspection fee, and they will not place an inspection sticker on your vehicle. The inspection sticker is being combined with the registration sticker. Motorists will notice that their registration renewal forms now list the state’s portion of the inspection fee along with the registration fees.
Before a vehicle can be registered, the tax office will have to verify that the vehicle has a current inspection. In most cases this will be done electronically in the same manner that current insurance coverage is verified, and the public will not be aware of any change in the process. However, if the inspection cannot be verified, the vehicle owner will have to provide proof of current inspection.
If a vehicle registration and inspection stickers currently expire in the same month of 2015, a vehicle will need to be inspected before the vehicle registration can be renewed. The important thing to remember is that the inspection comes first, then registration. That is where the “two steps” come into play.
If a vehicle registration and inspection expire in different months, the owner must make sure that their inspection is current when they go to renew their registration. To sync the dates, the inspection will remain valid, or extended until the vehicle registration expires in 2016. This will align the inspection and registration dates.
Once the two dates are synced, vehicle owners can have their vehicle inspected anytime within 90 days prior to obtaining their vehicle registration sticker.
The Department of Motor Vehicles has established a website to assist motorists with this first year of the program: http://twostepsonesticker.com/motorists.
Along with additional information on the program, a calculator is available for motorists to enter their inspection and registration information to help determine the steps necessary to bring the two dates together.
For additional assistance, please contact the Brazos County Tax Office at 979-361-4470.