Orange scraps decals

By Sandy James
Review Staff Writer

Published: June 26, 2008

Following similar moves by the Town of Gordonsville and Orange County, the Town of Orange will discontinue selling town stickers or decals for vehicles owned by town citizens.
At the June 16 regular town council meeting, the council voted unanimously to end the program which requires citizens to purchase the little plastic stickers that are applied beside state inspection stickers on vehicle windshields.
The fee of $25 per vehicle and $15 per motorcycle that is usually collected when people purchase the sticker, will now be added onto the December personal property tax bills.
Town director of finance Lydia Hadley said most nearby localities have already discontinued the labor-intensive issuing of decals.
“This seems to be what the trend is,” said Hadley.
Hadley listed the Town of Culpeper, the City of Suffolk, Lynchburg, Hopewell and Augusta County as localities that have dropped the sticker sales.
Orange County has not sold vehicle decals since 2006.
The Town of Gordonsville also discontinued the issuance of the stickers after 2006.
“The transition went smoothly and the citizens took the addition of the fee to their tax bills in stride,” said Gordonsville’s Deputy Treasurer Tabitha Carpenter.
Carpenter said a few citizens questioned the sticker fee on the tax bills, and were satisfied with explanations from the town office.
Council member Rick Sherman said he supported the idea, because the stickers were printed wrong this year and the decals are so hard to remove and replace.
Sherman added that Louisa County has also discontinued sticker sales.
Mayor Henry Carter expressed concerns over how back taxes would be collected.
“You didn’t get your decal until you paid your delinquent taxes,” he said.
Hadley said DMV would help by putting stops on vehicle registrations until local taxes are paid.
Orange Police Chief Jim Fenwick said there were no major concerns over the discontinuation of town stickers from a law enforcement standpoint.
Fenwick voiced some concerns over whether or not town residents were correctly listed as such with DMV.
Current Town of Orange stickers expire March 31, 2009.
The sticker fee will appear as a separate item (not an increase in tax rates) on personal property tax bills, due December 5, 2008.