ST. LOUIS 鈥 The city鈥檚 top fiscal body on Thursday greenlit a new program aimed at reducing the number of temporary license plates on city streets by loaning drivers the money to buy real ones.
The city鈥檚 Estimate Board 鈥 Mayor Tishaura O. Jones, Comptroller Darlene Green, and Aldermanic President Megan Green 鈥 unanimously picked nonprofit lender Justine Peterson to give out the loans.
Loaning people city money to pay for license plates is a new approach to an old problem, rooted in high sales tax charges, state bureaucracy and inconsistent enforcement, that has gotten worse since the pandemic.
Other cities have focused their efforts on ramping up ticketing and even towing cars with expired tags in response to growing frustration from constituents. But in 最新杏吧原创, citations for registration-related violations have fallen in recent years. And while police say they鈥檙e beginning to focus on the issue again, officials in the mayor鈥檚 office have said the city needs to go beyond the traditional response to help people who cannot afford sales taxes and insurance on their vehicle, and provide them with financial counseling 鈥 and cash 鈥 so they can help themselves.
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Ultimately, officials say, it will make streets safer for everyone.
鈥淭he number of expired temp tags and uninsured cars on our streets is frustrating, and affects everyone who travels in our city,鈥 Mayor Tishaura O. Jones said in a news release. 鈥淲hile the city increases our efforts to write citations for expired plates, this loan program will help low-income residents get into compliance and get insured while they pay back the loan.鈥
The program is expected to start in the fall. The $315,479 made available for loans will be available only to city residents making no more than 80% of area median income, or $57,800 for a single person. The program will not charge interest, but it will assess late fees 鈥 5% of any past due payment.
Justine Peterson will take an administrative fee equal to 10% of the total value of the loans it makes 鈥 up to $35,000 for the initial one-year term.
View life in 最新杏吧原创 through the Post-Dispatch photographers' lenses. Edited by Jenna Jones.
