Memorandum

To:	Chief Judge Gary B. Andrews

Presiding Judge Marion T. Pope, Jr.

Judge Dorothy Toth Beasley

Judge John H. Ruffin , Jr.

Senior Judge Harold R. Banke
From:	William L. Martin, III
Subject:	Prestige Tags
Date:	September 11, 1998

Those of you who have prestige tags should be alerted to the possibility that you will not receive your tag application in a timely manner. Both Presiding Judge Pope and Judge Blackburn have experienced difficulty in getting the applications for their prestige tags.

I have spoken with the Tag Division of the Revenue Department and I believe I have found out the cause of the problem. When the tags were initially issued, we got them through the Revenue Department, and not through the counties. This was done to speed up the process. Since the tags did not go through the counties, the counties do not have the information on their database and are unable to send out the pre-printed applications for the prestige tags.

The information should have been transmitted from the State to the counties, but evidently there was a breakdown somewhere.

You will need to take last year's tag receipt to your county tag office, have the county tag office type up a new application and add in the $20.00 license or decal fee, $25.00 prestige fee and the county ad valorem taxes. You then pay the county and sign the application. Thereafter, you should be in the local county database and receive your tag applications for future years without a problem.

Please remember that under the new staggered tag law, your tag must be replaced by your birthdate , not the last day of the month of your birth. Failure to get your tag on time may result in a $25.00 late fee penalty.

If you have any questions about this matter, please do not hesitate to contact me.

cc:	Judge G. Alan Blackburn

Mrs. A. W. Birdsong, Jr.