Washington State one time registration.

[Jack L]

My wife just found something on the Washington DMV web sight that is interesting. In 2015 the Washington Legislature created an option to license a trailer permanently for a one time fee of $187.50. My current registration is about $47 a year, so it might be a good deal if I keep the trailer long term. The information did say "most trailers" but no more specifics. If you live in Washington and plan to keep your trailer for a few years it would be a good deal.

[Triker]

I found this online about the Lifetime Trailer Registration Bill:

Reported April 14, 2015
The bill passed the House unanimously earlier in the session. As a result of the changes made in the Senate, the proposal goes back to the House for concurrence. If the House agrees on the amendments, it will move on to the governor's desk for his signature in order to become law. If signed into law, the effective date would be Jan. 1, 2017.

Senate passes Rep. Jeff Holy's lifetime trailer registration bill - Washington State House Republicans

[k corbin]

It was signed off on as the new law by the Governor of Washington state on May 8th, 2016 and it will become effective on Jan 1, 2017. There were no opposing votes against this bill in the house or the senate. It is now a finalized "done deal"!

HB 1480 - 2015-16

Thanks for letting us know about it. I had not heard of this new opportunity. We will be availing ourselves of it since we have 3 trailers between the two of us. Fortunately I only have to pay the fees for one of them and at the moment it is lifetime registered with Oregon plates. Getting the title transferred to me there saved hassles for now.

[Kai in Seattle]

Thanks for this information. When we got both our fiberglass trailers last fall, both were without current tabs and we had to pay full bore to get them legal. That was a little pricey!

We'll give this new law some serious thought.

[immrbill]

Thanks good info here. I live over in Whitman county and have an 80 Boler that is 67$ per year currently

[Bobbie Mayer]

Here's the law:

(1) A trailer in good working order that has a scale weight of two thousand pounds or less and is used only for participation in club activities, exhibitions, tours, and parades, and for occasional pleasure use, is considered an intermittent-use trailer and may be issued a permanent registration.

It isn't clear that they will include camp trailers. Sounds like they are talking about floats and antique trailers here.

Then it also says

(7) For purposes of this section, "occasional pleasure use" means use that is not general or daily, but seasonal or sporadic and not more than once per week on average. "Occasional pleasure use" does not mean (a) being held for rent to the public or (b) use for commercial or business purposes.
(8) The department may adopt rules to implement this section.

So the DOL could decide to include or not include camp trailers.

As for first-time registration you'd still have to pay the sales tax unless you could show it has already been paid.

[Dave Fish]

I didn't see where it would exclude camp trailers except the weight has to be under 2000 pounds which would eliminate many of us. Both my Campster and my 1942 utility trailer could qualify but I probably wouldn't bother.

1970 Trails West Campster
2008 Honda Ridgeline

[Glenn Baglo]

Maybe if you put your trailer in parades:

"is used only for participation in club activities, exhibitions, tours, and parades, and for occasional pleasure use"

Key word is 'and'.

[Dudley]

Guess we are lucky up here in Alberta, lifetime registration on a trailer is $109.45, and that's CDN dollars.

[Bobbie Mayer]

"Club activities" might include Fiberglass Rallies (or Camp Corgi) but again, they get to make the rules.

[Carol H]

Originally Posted by Bobbie Mayer

"Club activities" might include Fiberglass Rallies (or Camp Corgi) but again, they get to make the rules.

Good luck proving that Fibreglass Rallies are "Club activities".

Most meet organizers go out of their way to make sure that nothing about the meet appears to be a formal club activity as they do not have the liability insurance to cover it as such.

Organizers do their best to make it appear as only a unorganized Meet Up vs a formal club event.

[Bobbie Mayer]

I just asked at the local DOL office and was told that it should be good for any small trailer (under 2000 lbs and 16 feet). Just paid for this year (what's left of it!) but next year I'll do that.

[Roger C H]

From:
http://apps.leg.wa.gov/WAC/default.a...te=308-96A-203

"Permanent trailer registrations.

(1) Do I have an option of purchasing a permanent registration for my trailer to offset the higher fees on my power unit?
Yes, if the power unit towing the trailer is properly licensed to tow a trailer with a permanent registration.
(2) How does the power unit need to be licensed to tow a trailer with a permanent registration?
The power unit must have a combination CMB or farm combination FCB use class.*
(3) How does the power unit qualify for the CMB or FCB use class?
The declared gross weight of the power unit must exceed forty thousand pounds. The CMB and FCB use classes require a higher gross weight fees to offset the annual revenue loss of the permanently licensed trailer(s) the power unit is towing."

How many people have a 40,000# power unit pulling a 2,000# trailer?
In other words the generous state doesn't give you anything. Typical.

*Had to remove the combination B close parenthesis or I get .

HOWEVER There is this:

"Travel trailers that are at least 30 years old are eligible vehicles to use a collector vehicle license plate."
This might be good for our long-lived FG rigs.

http://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/bienni...20FBR%2015.pdf

[Bobbie Mayer]

That's the old law. The new starts in January.

[Roger C H]

I emailed the State of Washington:
To whom it may concern.

On the webpage

http://www.dol.wa.gov/vehicleregistration/spcollector.html

It states in Section 2:

Note: These plates are not available for trailers.

HOWEVER

http://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/biennium/2015-16/Pdf/Bill%20Reports/House/1480-S%20HBR%20FBR%2015.pdf

States on Page 2:

Travel trailers that are at least 30 years old are eligible vehicles to use a collector vehicle license plate.

Please Clarify.

Here is the answer:

Good afternoon,

Travel trailers and trailers are different categories. A travel trailer will qualify for the Collector Vehicle plates but a cargo or flatbed trailer will not.

Thank you,


Kyle
Self Service Channel Unit
Customer Relations

[k corbin]

I guess that leaves out snowbirds as we would be using it more than once a week in the winter time.

[Bobbie Mayer]

Has anyone tried to get one of these yet? Here's the page to the current info on it.

WA State Licensing (DOL) Official Site: Intermittent-use trailer plates

I have to check with the local office but at the time I registered last year she thought it would cover any trailer under 2000 lbs that was not used commercially. Note it does not say you MUST use them for club activities and parades, only that you can. You can also use them for "occasional pleasure use" i.e. camping (vs, I assume, living in them?) You can't rent them or use them for commercial purposes.

Nowhere near as good as California's $10 but then, covers somewhat bigger trailers, too. Basically equal to 4-5 years registration fees.

[Kai in Seattle]

I think Peanut is just a tad too heavy to take advantage of this. Also, what evidence do you need to provide proof of a "scaled" weight? Loaded, or dry weight?

It would indeed be about 4.9 years worth of registration fees, depending on fees you have to contact them about to have them determine.

Not a bad deal if your rig falls within their weight limit and you plan to keep it for 5 years or longer. I know Peanut is old enough--old enough to technically get a "horseless carriage" license plate...though we all know it was designed to be pulled by a Ford PINTO.

BEST
Kai

(Kathleen)

[LiseSilverwolf]

We're going to check into this next year when our 1973 Boler comes up for renewal. I think our yearly renewal fee is going to be around $38. Just a note tho - it was mentioned that you don't have to pay the sales ta again if it was already paid (ie, already registered in Washington). Not true, we found out when we went to register our boler this August! The previous owner had current Washington tags and Washington plates on her, but we still had to pay $390+ to register her, including the sales tax listed on the bill, even tho it was private party and current. Why, we asked?! The sales tax was already paid by the previous owner when the trailer was transferred from Oregon to Washington in 2015. It's the law, we were told. EVERY sale is charged a sales tax as part of the registration, even if it is already Washington registered and current. Ugh! Just a heads up, for those of us here in Washington state.

Originally Posted by Bobbie Mayer

Here's the law:



It isn't clear that they will include camp trailers. Sounds like they are talking about floats and antique trailers here.

Then it also says



So the DOL could decide to include or not include camp trailers.

As for first-time registration you'd still have to pay the sales tax unless you could show it has already been paid.

[Jack L]

Originally Posted by LiseSilverwolf

We're going to check into this next year when our 1973 Boler comes up for renewal. I think our yearly renewal fee is going to be around $38. Just a note tho - it was mentioned that you don't have to pay the sales ta again if it was already paid (ie, already registered in Washington). Not true, we found out when we went to register our boler this August! The previous owner had current Washington tags and Washington plates on her, but we still had to pay $390+ to register her, including the sales tax listed on the bill, even tho it was private party and current. Why, we asked?! The sales tax was already paid by the previous owner when the trailer was transferred from Oregon to Washington in 2015. It's the law, we were told. EVERY sale is charged a sales tax as part of the registration, even if it is already Washington registered and current. Ugh! Just a heads up, for those of us here in Washington state.

Lise; I think if you look at your paperwork, the $390 tax you paid is not a "sales tax". It is probably called an "excise tax" and it is also, probably the exact same percentage as a sales tax would be if you brought the trailer new.

There is a simple explanation why this happens. The state of Washington has program they follow. "It's YOUR money, and WE want it NOW! Many other states have the same, or similar programs.