Beginning this month, March 2019, Arlington Heights officials will begin stepping up enforcement of the village vehicle sticker requirement.
According to discussion at the Committee of the Whole on Monday, rules suggested by the village staff and reviewed by the board, will maintain a $10 late fee from January 1 to March 14. However, the fee will increase to $30 on March 15. Additionally, the fees will be specified on notices sent to residents identified as scofflaws, which amount to about 23% of Village of Arlington Heights residents.
The Village of Arlington Heights plans to send letters in March and in April to thousands of drivers believed to be forgoing the required annual purchase of a $30 village sticker.
If residents don’t respond, a final notice will be sent in June — along with a ticket and date to appear for an administrative adjudication hearing at village hall. If a required sticker is purchased before the hearing, the village will withdraw the ticket.
A hearing officer could set a fine of $50 to $750, and if the fine isn’t paid, the amount due will go to collections.
Village staff members plan to compare data from the Illinois Secretary of State (SOS) vehicle licensing records with the Village of Arlington Heights vehicle sticker database. An initial batch of notices will be sent to drivers with SOS records showing residency in Arlington Heights, but who are without record of a vehicle sticker purchase.
During a Committee-of-the-Whole Meeting discussion on long-term revenues in June 2018, one of the actions approved by the Board was to implement stronger vehicle sticker enforcement and collection procedures. This was done in lieu of eliminating vehicle stickers and replacing the lost revenue with a 3% property tax increase or a .75% increase in the Food & Beverage tax. The intent of stronger enforcement is to improve compliance with the requirement to purchase Village vehicle stickers. The Village of Arlington Heights has seen a decline in vehicle sticker revenues from $1.36 million in 2006 to $1.214 million in 2018, or a decline of 11% ($146,000).
Village Front Desk personnel have said that a number of residents have told them that their neighbors don’t purchase vehicle stickers. In addition, a couple of residents who had received tickets for not displaying a valid vehicle sticker have said that, even though they got caught after a couple of years, that they are still saving money. According to the Village of Arlington Heights, while most Village residents purchase a vehicle sticker, the compliance rate and comments above are a source of frustration for law abiding citizens. Scofflaws also result in lost revenue used to maintain Village of Arlington Heights streets and towards law enforcement. This lost revenue puts pressure on property taxes and other revenue sources.
In 2018, the village sold 44,305 stickers — a 14 percent decline from 2006. Calculating a rough estimate, village officials believe 77 percent of drivers in town are in compliance.
The Village of Arlington Heights used the following rough estimate to compare actual vehicle stickers sold in 2018 to the number of vehicles (using an average vehicle estimate) for owned residences and rental residences to estimate the total potential sticker sales …
CALCULATION
44,305 vehicle stickers actually sold in 2018.
Compare expected total of all residents (potential total stickers) with figure for residents who have complied (actual purchased sticker) …
23,132 owner occupied residences x an average of 2 vehicles per residence = 46,264 vehicle stickers
7,319 rental units x an average of 1.5 vehicles per residence = 10,979 vehicle stickers
Total estimated potential sticker sales …
46,264 + 10,979 = 57,243 vehicle stickers
44,305/57,243 = 77% estimated compliance
100% Vehicle sticker compliance – 77% estimated compliance rate = 23% scofflaw rate
The Village of Arlington Heights policy will be flexible for information that may be outdated. For example if a vehicle is no longer possessed by a resident because it has been sold, donated, wrecked or disposed; the village notice will ask residents to contact village hall and explain any discrepancies.
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