By Jeremy D. Wells
Carter County Times
If you have a car tag set to expire before the first of the year, you might want to plan ahead and get things taken care of early.
Carter County Clerk Mike Johnston reminded fiscal court on Monday evening that his office will be closed to the public after December 29, and remain so until the state completes a changeover of the computer system used to process automobile registrations. While employees will still be reporting to work to complete other duties, Johnston explained, his office – like others across the state – will not be able to issue any new license plates during that time. They won’t be able to issue the renewal stickers for existing registrations either. This includes online renewals. Other services, like handicap parking permits and watercraft registration, will also be impacted.
Because of this, Johnston is encouraging anyone who is able to complete their registrations before the holiday break.
While it’s inconvenient, it’s a change that’s long been needed. The state hasn’t updated their registration system since before he took office, Johnston said. The current system, AVIS (Automated Vehicle Information System), is more than 40 years old. It will sunset completely and be replaced by the new KAVIS (Kentucky Automated Vehicle Information System) when the state rolls out their seventh and final module of the new computer system after the first of the year, according to a release from the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet.
Johnston said he’s been given an anticipated reopening date of January 16. But, he noted, the state will not be reopening all offices at once. Rather, they’ll be doing a county-by-county rolling reopening, so it could be later.
Johnston also noted that because county offices begin the new year with zero funds, borrowing against planned proceeds for the coming year, the timing will put Carter and other small and rural counties in a tight financial situation. This is because salaries and benefits still need to be paid during the changeover, but the office isn’t able to generate any of their regular income.
The state did allocate some funds to help with this anticipated hardship, he continued. But those were based on county population – not the tax base or median income – and Carter County missed the cut off by 7,000 people.
Contact the writer at editor@cartercountytimes.com
