Resolution Allows County To Waive Late Car Registration Penalties

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The Fulton County Commission has taken a step to help residents who’ve experienced delays in receiving notice of their annual vehicle registration.

The commission on Wednesday, Nov. 4 approved a resolution to allow the Fulton County tax commissioner to waive penalties and/or interest, in whole or in part, upon motor vehicle owners meeting a specific set of criteria.

The resolution, introduced by Commissioner Bill Ellis and co-sponsored by fellow Commissioners Lee Morris and Liz Hausmann, is in response to the fallout of the company responsible for mailing the notices suddenly going out of business.

The company under contract with the Georgia Department of Revenue responsible for mailing the motor vehicle registration notices informed the state in late September that it would cease operations and file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

The result? Many notices were not mailed to motor vehicles owners whose registration renewals were due during the month of October.

Compounding the issue at the local level is that the new vendor hired by the state to address this issue mailed notifications with return envelopes that did not include the complete address for the Fulton County Tax Commissioner’s Office.

This resulted in payments not being received and many motor vehicle owners incurred penalties and/or interest due to delinquent motor vehicle ad valorem payments.

The resolution authorizes the tax commissioner to waive penalties and/or interest, in whole or in part, upon motor vehicle owners meeting each of the following parameters:

• Included are motor vehicle renewals that became due beginning Oct. 1, 2015, through and including Nov. 31, 2015, in Fulton County, Georgia; and
• The motor vehicle owner presents an affidavit to the tax commissioner asserting that he or she either: (a) failed to receive a pre-bill, or (b) received a pre-bill with a remittance envelope that failed to show the complete return address of the Tax Commissioner’s Office and as a result, the remittance was marked as undeliverable and returned to sender; and
• Payment in full of the principal ad valorem tax and tag fee is received within 60 days of the original deadline for such payment.

If the tax commissioner determines that there was reasonable cause for the late payment as described above, the Fulton County Department of Finance will refund to the motor vehicle owner the appropriate amount as determined by the tax commissioner.

For more information, visit the Fulton County Tax Commissioner’s website.

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