Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, August 30, 1994 TAG: 9408300092
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By DAN CASEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
On Monday, Roanoke's commissioner of revenue joined with the state Department of Motor Vehicles in a system that allows motorists to do it all in one place.
The ``one-stop'' shop, at the DMV's Crossroads Mall office, will be especially useful for people who buy a used car in a private sale or who have moved to Roanoke and are transferring their registration, said Commissioner of Revenue Marsha Compton Fielder.
``Our goal was to work together within city government to provide the citizens with the most convenient service possible,'' she said.
In the past, someone registering a car in Roanoke had to go first to the Department of Motor Vehicles, then make another trip to City Hall. The resident would get the car's value assessed by the commissioner of revenue, then pay the tax and get the decal in the treasurer's office.
Now, the resident can register his or her car, pay the tax and get a city decal all in one spot.
The new service was made possible by City Council, which granted the commissioner of revenue an additional employee in the fiscal 1995 budget adopted May 9.
That worker is stationed in the DMV office next to the information booth. She has a personal computer and printer hooked into the commissioner of revenue's City Hall office. Under an agreement with the treasurer's office, the clerk at DMV is allowed to collect the tax. The proceeds are picked up daily by a courier and taken to the treasurer's office downtown.
Aside from bringing in revenues more quickly, Fielder said the new setup will save residents money, because current law levies a 10 percent penalty on top of car owners' personal property tax if they fail to pay it within 30 days of buying the car or moving to Roanoke.
``We feel like we'll definitely capture the information quicker and cut down on the number of people who have to pay the additional tax for missing the deadline,'' Fielder said.
It also should cut down on the traffic and sometimes long lines in both the commissioner of revenue's and the treasurer's offices downtown.
Employees of the Roanoke County commissioner of revenue - which has had a booth in the DMV since February - call it ``wonderful.'' More Roanoke County residents use it each month, one employee said.
The city's desk at the DMV is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. It isn't open on Saturdays, although the DMV is.
``That's not something that we've worked out at this point,'' Fielder said.
by CNB