The state of Illinois will resume sending vehicle emissions test notices after it stopped in December due to the lack of a state budget, but it won't do the same with renewal notices for license plate stickers.
The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency and the Illinois Secretary of State said Wednesday that that the EPA's vehicle emissions testing contractor, Applus Technologies Inc., has agreed to print and email the reminders at no additional cost to the state.
The notices started to go out Wednesday for vehicles due for emissions tests in March, April and May, Illinois EPA spokeswoman Kim Biggs told the Chicago Sun-Times.
In February, the state agencies announced that the mailing of vehicle emissions test notices would be suspended to save money amid the state budget impasse. Vehicle owners whose license plates expired at the end of March were the first motorists who didn't receive the notices.
Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White said Wednesday that his office will resume the emissions testing requirement for motorists seeking renewals of their license plate stickers beginning in June. But his office still won't send notices to motorists who need to renew their license plate stickers.
"We have to be very conservative to keep the (postage) account running," said White's spokesman, David Druker. "It's a tough choice. We're very sorry for anyone who had to pay the late fee or got tickets, but look at the choice we had to make without a budget."
Motorists face a $20 late fee when they fail to pay for their license plate renewals.
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Between January and March, 247,913 late registration citations were levied for a total of $5 million in fines. That's more than double the amount collected over the same period last year, when the renewal notices for license plate stickers were still being sent to motorists.
The Secretary of State's office has saved $450,000 per month by not sending out the notices, Drucker said.
