GLEN BURNIE, Md. — Thousands of Maryland drivers who recently lost their historic vehicle registration may qualify to get it back next July, but many say the changing rules are costing them.
A new law will restore rolling eligibility for historic tags next July. But drivers who switched from historic to standard plates under last year's law change already paid a $40 plate replacement fee. When they become eligible for historic tags again next July, they'll have to pay another $40 fee to switch back, meaning the round-trip could cost them $80.
Historic tags cost $55.50 per year, compared to $191. 50 for standard registration (passenger cars over 3,700 pounds), making them a significant savings for drivers of older vehicles they don't use often.
Bruce Hampe is one of those drivers. He registered his wife's 2002 Ford F-150 with historic tags to save money, only to lose eligibility when the law changed last July.
"It's a pick up truck. We use it to take stuff to the dump and when you have to go get mulch and things that you don't want to put inside a car, that's your car. So, we don't put a whole lot of miles on it. It's got 44,900 miles on it. It's a 2002," Hampe said.
He said Maryland's registration costs drove him to look for savings in the first place.
"I mean, some of the states in the area like Pennsylvania tags are very cheap, Virginia tag is very cheap, Delaware tags are very cheap, and Maryland tag is just crazy expensive, and they just keep going up. It's like every year, up, up, up, up, up," Hampe said.
When Hampe switched back to standard plates after the law changed, he was charged an extra fee he hadn't anticipated.
"It was a separate $40 tag replacement swapping fee," Hampe said. "You're playing by the rules, they change the rules, and then you get penalized on top of going to the full fee, plus another 40 bucks just seems real tone deaf."
Maryland stopped using a rolling 20-year eligibility window last July, limiting historic tags to model year 1999 and older vehicles. The change affected about 72,000 vehicles or roughly one-third of all Maryland historic tag holders.
READ MORE: Maryland's historic vehicle crackdown impacts 72,000 registrations
State Senator J.B. Jennings (R-Baltimore and Harford Counties) was among the Republican lawmakers who introduced legislation last session to restore rolling eligibility. That measure passed in the Budget Reconciliation and Financing Act, moving to a 25-year rolling window, however, it won't take effect until next July.
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"What is news to us and what you have found out is that people are having to pay this $40 fee for tag transfer. It's because they're having to turn in their historic to get the regular tag. They're getting hit with a $40 fee and then in next July when they're able to go back to turn in the old tag for the new or their historic tag, they're going to get hit again," Jennings said.
He argues drivers are paying the price for what he believes was a legislative mistake.
"They got penalized in the beginning because of a screw up of the legislature for doing this, and now they're getting hit again. It's going to cost them $80 to do the swap. Absolutely wrong," Jennings said.
The Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration confirmed the new law does not grandfather in drivers who lost their historic registration. When they reapply next July, they will be charged the mandatory $40 cost-recovery fee.
Jennings said he is working on legislation to address the fees. He wants to waive the $40 fee for drivers re-registering their vehicles as historic when the new law takes effect and provide a $40 credit to reimburse them for the fee they paid to switch to standard plates. He is considering introducing that legislation if the General Assembly reconvenes this summer, though the main focus of any special session would be redistricting.
Click here for more information on Maryland's registration fees. And click here for information on how to contact your elected officials.
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