Four were for vehicles that had been registered to previous residents who have not lived at my address since at least 2005. Yet, the City has seen the need to send applications each year. The other two were for vehicles that I donated to charities in 2006 and 2007. Neither of these were registered with the city in 2008. Would it be so difficult for the City to purge its records of vehicles that were not registered last year? I could even see giving them an extra year in case some people overlooked getting a sticker for one year, but why send for vehicles last registered in 2005 or before?
Even more distressing is that the postcards were sent with first class postage as if they were letters and not post cards. This means that every single application sent out was at an extra cost of 15 cents. That may seem small, but it adds up when you think of how many thousands of vehicles are in Crest Hill and then add the thousands of vehicles that used to be in Crest Hill and still get postcards.
Once we figure the cost of printing and mailing all the applications, the cost of the actual vehicle stickers, and the time spent by city staff administering the vehicle sticker program; a significant portion of the revenue is spent on that. It is wasteful to have in place a tax that has little purpose beyond raising enough revenue to continue to be administered and enforced.
The time as come to evaluate this program and determine if it is worth saving. City Clerk Christine Vershay-Hall has stated previously that she thinks the vehicle stickers should be done away with. And I agree that as long as the cost of the sticker is held so low, there is no reason to continue it. And this does not seem to be a good time to raise the cost of stickers. I would much rather see the stickers ended. The loss of revenue will be minor because the cost savings would be significant. If the stickers are not eliminated; the process of sending applications and issuing stickers needs to be made much more efficient.
