People who don't license vehicles in Wyoming (Gillette, Alpine: cul-de-sac, sales)

[georgiainwyo]

I have a big pet peeve that I am wondering whether anyone out there knows how to solve. The recent post about car tags made me ask this question. I live in a little neighborhood cul-de-sac where there are quite a few residents in a small area. It is easy to see which vehicles people drive, etc. There are a couple of folks who live in our neighborhood who have been there longer than we have (1.5 years) and they are still licensing their vehicles in other states. Two in particular really bug me! One guy bought a brand new car and licensed it in Oregon. I don't know his situation or know whether Oregon has sales tax, lower sales tax, etc., but I am thinking there is some reason he did not license it in Wyoming. The other gal had Montana plates on her vehicle all along and just recently bought a brand new high end pickup....probably about a $50K vehicle. She licensed it in Montana! There is NO SALES TAX there, so going on $50K, that saved her about $2000 in sales tax! That irks me because I paid my share when I got my new vehicle. Both of these folks are gainfully employed in Wyoming and have been for quite some time. Awhile back I ran across a police officer in a convenience store and asked him about it. He asked where we lived and said he would look into it (this was on the first guy). I don't know whether he did or not, because they guy still has the Oregon plates. I am not trying to cause problems with neighbors.....I am just wondering how law enforcement enforces the law about licensing in Wyoming. And what can we do about it? It just isn't "fair" to those of us who do what is right and isn't fair to the state that it isn't getting the monies that it rightly deserves from these citizens. Any ideas out there????

[jody_wy]

We have a few over here on the west side of the state, that own a few acres on the Idaho side so they buy the cheaper Idaho plates.
But what was funny the school board had a meeting about a grade school in Alpine instead of rebuilding in Etna. One guy went thru the parking lot and most all the cars were licensed in Teton County not Lincoln then went in and gave his finding and saying why Lincoln County school district #2 build where people wouldn't even support their own county.

[sunsprit]

Obviously not a high priority concern on the part of the local law enforcement, they likely figure on catching the license violations on a catch as catch can basis when they make a traffic stop for other reasons.

Unless these folk have an exemption from WY car license requirements, such as being military stationed here ... they do need to comply and pay their sales taxes, ownership/license fees.

A word to the WY sales tax dept should get a meaningful response from the law enforcement authorities. Sales tax is big chunk ... and going after somebody skipping out on a $50,000 purchase is a big catch for them. Or drop a note to the county treasurer's office about a vehicle being garaged/operated here for over a year from a local WY residence address ... and you can do this anonymously.

IIRC, purchasing the car out of state while a resident here and not licensing it here crosses over into criminal statutes for avoiding sales tax and licensing requirements. The fines and penalties start getting pretty serious when you're looking at defrauding your fellow citizens of thousands of dollars worth of taxes.

[Froggie Legs]

Here the police patrol the neighborhoods and if they see your tabs are expired they threaten to tow your vehicle.... usually does the trick.

[sunsprit]

Originally Posted by Froggie Legs

Here the police patrol the neighborhoods and if they see your tabs are expired they threaten to tow your vehicle.... usually does the trick.

Big difference in "expired tabs" and current ones that were obtained under fraud to escape taxes or license fees.

A significant concern is that the residents here with cars licensed out of state may not have proper insurance. If they can get away with not paying taxes/fees, they might also be getting away without insurance, too.

[Froggie Legs]

I guess what I meant was that, if police patrol neighborhoods with any frequency, they should be able to see that "Joe" at "X" address has had out of state plates for 6 months or what have you... and can give a "friendly" knock/warning to said drivers. I doubt they are unaware that there are violations.

Do you attend City Council meetings Georgia.. you could bring up the issue there..

[ElkHunter]

As Sunsprit pointed out, it borders on criminal. Those folks are not helping pay their fair share, so why should we foot the bill for them?

I think I would give a call to the local Courthouse instead of the City Council Meeting, as there could be reprocussions.

Also, I think it was mentioned, in a cul-de-sac, so local law enforcement is not necessarily going to patrol. They can drive by and just glance in that direction instead of actually "doing their jobs."

The first year I was in Wyoming, I had South Dakota, Wyoming, and Montana plates, all on my pickup truck. I worked construction and had to bounce back and forth between the 3 states so had to tag in all three.

[WyoNewk]

Georgia, Oregon also has no sales tax, and their license plates are SUPER cheap. My wife couldn't believe the cost of plates (plus paying sales tax) on her 2-year-old car when she moved here. Her Oregon plates (in 1998) were $40 for TWO YEARS (and no sales tax)!

She's still driving that car. One reason is the plates are finally a reasonable cost ($88.00).

I remember a few years ago police were checking plates on cars that were regularly parked at certain businesses. If the owners were employed there and the cars had out-of-state plates, instant fine. I haven't heard of any crackdowns since. I see hundreds of cars in Gillette with Oregon plates, and even more with Montana plates. I'll bet most are illegally plated. Maybe it's time for another crackdown.

[ScottStielow]

I don't know why people do not change their plates other than already mentioned above, about cost between states. I've always, where ever i moved in the past. I get my Insurance, registration, and plates in that order, completed as fast as possible, so that i can blend in with everyone else in the state. With a different license plate people know your are not from the area, police seems to watch you more closely, i have found. I haven't had any speeding tickets so i don't intend to start now at my age. I see different license plates from a lot of different states in Hawaii all the time, only most are military so i know there is a reason, and they still have to get Hawaiian drivers Insurance by law, which is more $$ than on the mainland.
That's my take from what has work well for myself in the past.
Scott

[NoMoreSnowForMe]

Hello Wyoming! I thought I'd get out of my box in CA for a minute and visit a new forum :-)

In CA one reason people keep their old plates as long as possible, is because in CA, you have to get your car tested for smog emission every two years. You have to pay for the test, then if you fail, pay to get it repaired until it complies, then pay for another test to prove it does.

In the SF Bay Area, you can get away with keeping your old plates for a very long time, if not forever, because it's just so populated, it's easy to go unnoticed.

I, too, always got licensed right away whenever I've moved to a different state, like someone else said, because I'm paranoid about having insurance. I fear that if I was to get in an accident, and my insurance company discovered I was living in a different state than my policy said, that I wouldn't be covered. I never checked to see for sure. I just assumed...

I also assumed that if I registered to vote, that they'd discover I hadn't changed my vehicle registration, and voting is important to me, so I always register to vote right away.

But, here I am assuming. But, I'm not much of a gambler. If I just go ahead and get licensed, I don't have to worry about getting caught and paying any penalties, etc., etc.