JEFFERSON CITY — The cost of purchasing a vehicle in Missouri could rise by another $65 per vehicle under an emergency rule filed by state tax officials.
The Missouri Department of Revenue posted the new rule this week, upping the current $500 maximum fee for administrative purposes charged by car dealers by $65 to reflect increases in the consumer price index.
The original fee, set at $200, was raised last year to allow dealers to charge administrative fees that will help pay for updates to the state’s aging computer systems.
The emergency rule becomes effective Feb. 14 at a time when new and used car prices are slowly retreating from pandemic-related price spikes over the past two years.
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The modernized vehicle database, estimated to cost up to $105 million, would streamline the state’s cumbersome process for titling vehicles and issuing and renewing registrations and driver’s licenses.
Currently, motorists may have to make multiple stops to collect the various documents needed to get licensing and title work approved. That proved difficult for some during the COVID-19 pandemic when dozens of state licensing offices were temporarily shuttered because of concerns about the spread of the deadly virus.
“The current Motor Vehicle and Driver License System is comprised of over 50 antiquated systems, many of which do not ‘talk’ to each other. Among those, many were created more than 40 years ago,” said Anne Marie Moy, spokeswoman for the Department of Revenue.
That’s a familiar refrain throughout state government, which has not invested enough in computer upgrades in recent years, leading to calls for an overhaul of all of the state’s aging information technology platforms.
The added fees come as Sen. Lincoln Hough, R-Springfield, and Sen. Angela Mosley, D-Florissant, have introduced legislation requiring car dealers to collect and remit sales taxes, rather than forcing motorists to pay the tax to the department directly after they drive their vehicles off the dealer’s lot.
If approved, the change would go into effect Jan. 1, 2024, as part of the rollout of the upgraded computer system.
In the year that the higher fee has been allowed, the state’s motor vehicle technology improvement fund has grown to $18.4 million.
But not all dealers participate in the state fee collection program.
According to Moy, there are 827 dealers reporting that their dealership collects an administrative fee out of an estimated 5,014 dealers that qualify.
And, among those that do collect the fee, the average is $298. Under the new program, the state receives 10% of that fee to pay for the upgrades.
A contract to build the integrated system could be awarded this spring with the work beginning soon after.
Moy said the department envisions a “customer-centric” vehicle licensing system that improves motorists’ interaction with the department when it comes to registering and titling vehicles.
“Missouri citizens will have access to all information regarding their motor vehicle and driver license records in one convenient portfolio,” she said in an email to the Post-Dispatch.