City Council approves tag renewal

Hoover residents will be able to renew their car tags at the Hoover Metropolitan Stadium in June.

The City Council tonight authorized Mayor Gary Ivey to enter a contract with the Pelham-based Ingenuity Inc. to handle vehicle tag renewals.

The city’s contract with Ingenuity will allow its staff to operate an office at the Met for tag renewal services. “The parking at the Met is available and accessible, and we’ve got office space there that we don’t have to buy or build. It just made sense,” Ivey said, explaining the choice of the Met.

Ingenuity will keep 90 percent of all fees and commissions associated with tag renewals. The city will receive the remaining 10 percent.

Hoover residents will have to pay an additional $5 to renew their licenses in Hoover.

Hiring Ingenuity will allow Hoover residents to bypass long lines associated with vehicle tag renewals at the Jefferson County Courthouse in downtown Birmingham and Bessemer. A bill passed by the State Legislature earlier this year gave Jefferson County cities the option to provide tag renewal services for their residents. The city’s decision will not apply to Hoover residents who live in Shelby County. Also, Hoover residents will still have to visit the courthouses in Birmingham and Bessemer to get new tags.

However, Ivey said city officials are talking with local lawmakers to see if they will sponsor a bill to allow Hoover to offer both renewals and new tags for vehicles, boats and motorcycles. “We would like to have a full blown annex,” he said.

City officials say they’ve heard from residents who have encourage the city to establish an office that would handle car tag renewals.  “This is a quality of life issue,” Ivey said. “If it’s good for quality of life then it’s good for Hoover.”   The mayor said he hopes Hoover is able to start the service by June 1, but the SEC Baseball Tournament being played May 20-25 at the Met may push that date further into June.

So far, Vestavia Hills and Hoover are the only Jefferson County cities to extend car tag renewals to its residents. Vestavia Hills started offering the service April 1.