Murphy, Cherokee Co, N.C.- At the July 17, 2017, Cherokee County Board of Commissioners meeting, Eddie Allen presented an overview of the new statute on gap billing of motor vehicle registrations. A new statute just approved by the state of NC mandates that counties must begin billing and collecting for all gaps in motor vehicle registrations. For instance, if a person’s vehicle tag expires on May 1, and the motor vehicle is unregistered until July 1, the county must now calculate and bill the owner for those two unregistered months. This process is estimated to become a billing nightmare, in the words of Allen, because it will be very labor intensive, as the bills must be calculated by hand. In the past, the county was able to selectively bill and collect based on amount, only electing to bill those vehicles that owed a tangible amount of money. This new statute mandates that ALL gaps must be billed, so it is foreseen that many very small bills, some of $0.50 or just $1.00 will need to be billed as well. Allen suggests raising the current minimum amount billed from $2 to a flat $5 to cover the expenses involved with billing. He worries that it will be a losing proposition that will generate much confusion and take an inappropriate amount of time for billing. A bill generated on Sept. 1, 2017, won’t become past due until the next year, for instance, Jan. 1, 2019. Allen plans to draft a formal resolution to be voted on for approval at an upcoming meeting.

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