Driver's License Fees Set to Accelerate

Starting Monday, renewals and new licenses will cost $20 more

If your driver’s license is close to expiring, save yourself $20 and renew it this week.

Because starting Monday, Oct. 12, getting or renewing a driver’s license in Illinois will cost $30, up from $10. That’s a 200 percent increase that won’t go unnoticed.

Driver’s licenses must be renewed every four years, but the license is eligible to be renewed if it expires within the next 12 months.

This will be the first increase for a standard Illinois license since 1983, and will be followed by other changes next year.

On Jan. 1, annual registration stickers will go from $79 to $99; duplicate or corrected vehicle titles will jump from $65 to $95; and registration transfer will go from $15 to $25.

The changes are part of Gov. Pat Quinn’s $26 billion plan to help rebuild decrepit bridges and pothole-stricken roads around Illinois. The fee increases are expected to raise $320 million, the Chicago Tribune reported in March.

Secretary of State Jesse White, who is running for a fourth term in office, said he doesn’t want to be blamed for the increases.

“Of course, I have within my offices the ability to put up signs that say, ‘I didn’t do it,’” White said at a recent campaign event, the Herald-Review reported
 
 

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