Ohio License Plate Sticker Colors

Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White suspended mailing out reminders in September, noting it could save $450,000 a month. Without that memory jog, renewals plummeted 19 percent in November, when 413,709 Illinoisans applied compared to 512,760 in November 2014. And as of Dec. 28, only 301,965 people had renewed their stickers in December 2015, as opposed to 475,314 for the entire month of December 2014, the agency reported. That's a 36 percent drop. Halting reminders 'is not something we wanted to do,' secretary of state's office spokesman Dave Druker said. Latecomers are subject to a $20 fee on top of the $101 renewal cost and become easy prey for expensive traffic tickets.

Plates are validated biennially with a sticker that is placed on the rear license plate. The color scheme for license plates is red and blue on white. Ohio drivers who only need to replace a license plate sticker not received must be able to provide somewhat different information. To receive a BMV sticker replacement, the following material should be included at the time of application: A valid Ohio driver’s license or state ID number.

But the agency was running out of money after feuding between Democrats and Gov. Bruce Rauner failed to produce a state budget in July. The secretary of state's office is hard-pressed to pay for leasing office space and utilities already, Druker said.

'The feeling was to prioritize mailing out the stickers and titles,' he noted. The state's budget crisis means no more reminders in the mail about license registration renewals and a steady stream of customers at the secretary of state facility in Lombard Thursday.

- Paul Michna Staff Photographer Crowds were light at the secretary of state facility in Lombard on New Year's Eve, but an administrator said the office was packed earlier in the week with numerous chagrined drivers. Chicagoan Kim Dyson would have forgotten to renew if not for a valet parker who pointed out the pending expiration. The notice 'always was the trigger that encouraged me to come and get my updated sticker,' said Dyson, formerly of Burr Ridge. 'They're not mailing them. Yet at the same time, you can still get a ticket.' Elmhurst resident Ron Spingola showed up Thursday because 'yesterday I looked at my son's license plate and saw it was going to expire today.

'If you had one vehicle, it wouldn't be that big a deal. But if you have multiple vehicles in a household and they all have different registration times, it's harder to manage,' Spingola said. Des Plaines resident Joe Schart, who contacted me in early December, remembered to renew in the nick of time but is irked by the lack of communication. 'With the new year right around the corner, I just know that folks whose registration expired late in 2015 -- and are unaware of this -- will be getting pulled over in 2016 as the old sticker's color will become obvious to any law enforcement officer who happens to be behind the poor soul,' Schart said. In Naperville, the state's fifth-largest city, police reported no significant increases in expired-registration tickets. So what can you do?

• One easy option is to renew online or by phone. It takes five to 10 days for stickers to arrive by mail. You will need the registration ID and PIN numbers that can be found on license plate. If those are unavailable, call the public inquiry office at (800) 252-8980. • If time is short or you prefer in-person registration, go to a secretary of state facility or currency exchange.