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St. Lawrence County Clerk says renewing licenses here can save money, time, and help county

Posted 4/2/14

CANTON – St. Lawrence County Clerk Mary Lou Rupp says residents can keep taxes down and save on fees by processing Department Motor Vehicle transactions locally. Rupp says a state effort toward …

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St. Lawrence County Clerk says renewing licenses here can save money, time, and help county

Posted

CANTON – St. Lawrence County Clerk Mary Lou Rupp says residents can keep taxes down and save on fees by processing Department Motor Vehicle transactions locally.

Rupp says a state effort toward online processing has the potential to drive up local taxes and can lead to unnecessary eye exams.

“When your DMV transactions are processed locally, the county keeps revenue, which can otherwise be lost to the state if renewed online or sent to the pre-addressed Utica address. As the state continues to entice people to do their business online instead of at the local offices, Rupp says that it can cost you more than increased local taxes,” Rupp said in a released statement.

Rupp says that if an eye exam for license renewal is done at an approved DMV vision-screening facility described in the renewal notice there is an extra charge.

“We've had customers tell us that when they got their driver license renewal notice, they were under the impression that they needed to have an eye exam before coming into the local office to renew,” she said. “Customers have paid $10 plus a trip to a vision screening facility or have scheduled an appointment with their doctor for an eye exam to renew their license. This is absolutely unnecessary because you can just come into the DMV office and read the chart at no extra cost.”

Rupp says renewing a driver’s license locally also provides drivers with a paper temporary license immediately. She said the official license arrives in the mail about a week later.

She says renewing online or through the state could mean waiting for weeks for it to arrive in the mail. Rupp said customers often need to come into the office when they've renewed online because their license or registration is due to expire before the new document arrives.

“Keep your dollars local,” Rupp says. “Renew at your local DMV office- it's easy and it's convenient.”