City Hall to offer vehicle registration starting April 1

Beginning April 1, residents of the Jefferson County portion of Trussville will be able to purchase and renew their automobile, motorcycle and boat tags without leaving the city. 

The new services will be provided at the front desk of City Hall. 

Trussville will become the fourth city to take advantage of an opportunity, granted in April 2014 by the passing of Act 2014-007, to establish tag registration offices in Jefferson County municipalities. Vestavia Hills, Irondale and Clay also provide the service to their residents.

In the past, Trussville residents have had to drive to one of the five county-managed license offices in Center Point, downtown Birmingham, Bessemer, Gardendale or Hoover, which were experiencing staffing cuts at the time the act was passed.

“Most of our residents go to Center Point, but what was happening is they were cutting back on staff, so the lines and the time that people were having to spend were excruciating. People were spending three to four hours at a time standing in line. We wanted to do something to help,” said Trussville Mayor Buddy Choat. “We didn’t know it would happen this soon for our city.”

Residents will still be able to renew their tags at a county location or online, if they choose, but Choat hopes the new location will be a convenience for residents. 

He said he hopes to see around 1,000 to 1,500 tags processed in 2018 and for that number grow in the future. 

Vestavia Hills, which has a population of 34,688 and started offering the service in 2014, now processes around 10,000 tag renewals a year, according to Choat.

Restrictions apply to Jefferson County residents who do not live in Trussville and those seeking driver’s licenses or a title transfer from an individual or out-of-state. All of those will still need to be done at a county courthouse or county revenue office.

To renew a tag, residents will need to bring their tag notice with tag number. 

For vehicles purchased from a dealership which applied for a title on the buyer’s behalf, residents will need to bring a copy of the title application, the bill of sale, proof of insurance and a valid driver’s license. 

In addition to the annual tag registration cost, there will be an annual $5 issuance fee per vehicle as required by the act to cover operational costs, similar to fees administered for online or mailed-in renewals in Jefferson County. 

The City of Trussville currently accepts cash, checks made out to “City of Trussville” and most major credit cards as forms of payment. 

For more information, visit trussville.org.