Expired Colorado vehicle registrations shorts funding for road and bridge maintenance

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - KRDO13's The Road Warrior has uncovered that the State of Colorado is missing up to $8 million annually because drivers fail to register their cars.

This means that things like crumbling bridges, potholes, and cracking roads may not be getting addressed.

Many viewers are asking why so many people drive unregistered vehicles, and why there isn't more enforcement.

KRDO13 has learned that In the past five years, more than 6,500 drivers received tickets from Colorado state troopers, El Paso County deputies, and Colorado Springs police officers for driving with expired tags.

The fine is $97.50, and that doesn't mean the car is then registered.

But the extra revenue that brings to the state and individual counties is far outweighed by the revenue they're not receiving from vehicle registrations that are from a few months late, to several years late.

The state Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) tells us that in any given month, approximately 87,000 Colorado residents are driving with expired tags and 92,000 drivers have moved to Colorado without registering their vehicles here.

Those tags have been expired for a few months, to a few years and law enforcement can only enforce the violation, not make violators register their vehicles.

Unregistered drivers may have forgotten to renew or are ignoring their responsibility, with no intention of ever paying; and without valid registrations, those drivers are likely not paying insurance, either, which puts all of us at risk.

Electra Bustle, senior director of the Colorado DMV, says that there are other categories of drivers with expired tags.

"It doesn't account for people who moved out of state, and still have the car registered here," she explained. "People where maybe the car is salvaged but is still registered. So, at any given time, things are literally changing. So, it's very fluid. We don't know yet if more enforcement means more compliance. We're studying that."

Bustle added that a reduction in enforcement in the first few years of the COVID-19 pandemic is a major factor in the number of expired tags.

The situation also has a significant financial impact on the state and its 64 counties.

KRDO13 has learned that $10 from every registration goes to county Clerk and Recorder offices, and between $23-$102 funds maintenance for road, bridge, and highway maintenance, at a time when frustration over infrastructure is higher than ever.

It means that the state and its counties are missing out on between $2 million and $8 million annually for that purpose.

The State Patrol says that it's also issuing more citations to drivers who buy fake temporary tags online that are not valid, affecting another revenue source.

Many viewers are asking KRDO13 what's being done to address this situation.

Fortunately, several things are happening.

Enforcement is increasing; the State Patrol, for example, has three academies operating concurrently to reduce a shortage of 100 troopers as KRDO13 reported last year.

A new law took effect last year that now levies up to $100 in late fees for drivers with expired tags, adding other fines and fees in some circumstances.

The DMV does offer kiosks and an online option to make the process easier.

"We have DMV offices and kiosks but some people just want to avoid taking the time to go to them," Bustle said.