PORTLAND, Ore. — If you own a vehicle, you pay to have your car registered with the DMV. In Oregon, that registration renewal is usually every other year, with few exceptions. Registration fees are distributed from the DMV to various county and city governments.
In Portland, the city says $10.58 of every vehicle registered with a Portland address goes to help fund the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT). Additionally, for Multnomah County residents, a chunk of those fees ($112 for cars) goes to paying off the Sellwood Bridge, completed in 2016, and a new Earthquake Ready Burnside Bridge, which is currently in design phase.
During the pandemic, Oregon put a pause on DMV-related citations, but that moratorium ended Dec. 31, 2020.
"In the past, there’s always been some non-compliance," said PBOT spokesperson Dylan Rivera. "It has grown exponentially since the pandemic. The public sees it. We see it. And we’re starting to realize it's actually having budget consequences, in addition to just a general feeling that we hear from the public of lawlessness."
Citing a potential a $34-million budget shortfall for the next cycle, PBOT announced a series of measures aimed to ease the bleeding. The city hopes to add six parking enforcement officers to its staff this summer.
While census data suggests a slight drop in city population, the DMV said vehicle registration has fallen by nearly 92,000 in Multnomah County between 2019 and 2022. The city believes just by enforcing compliance with vehicle registrations, they'll recoup a million dollars a year in lost revenue.
Aside from the fees, PBOT said up-to-date registration means you have insurance, and you've passed emissions tests.
"We think vehicle registration is an important check on, do you have insurance, do you have a clean running vehicle, are you following the law that everyone else is following?" Rivera said.
It's at the discretion of the parking officer as to whether a vehicle owner gets a warning or an actual citation; no threshold has been set. The fine for tags expired 90 days or less is $70 and more than doubles to $145 for tags more than 90 days late.
Meanwhile, the DMV said at least two-thirds of Oregonians now renew their registrations online. There's no additional fee for renewing if you're overdue. However, if you're more than a year overdue, you'll have to go to the DMV to renew.
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