It’s Chicago “Vehicle Sticker” day! If you live in the city, your old car stickers and motorcycle medallions expire on June 30, and must be updated today. All motorcycles and scooters are required to display the tag. Despite commonly being called “parking medallions,” they’re required whether or not you park on the street. Remember that motorcycle tags do allow you to park in any “neighborhood” parking zone. Generally, hardcore enforcement starts at the end of July, so if you haven’t yet, send Miguel Del Valle your $45. This year, the medallion has been redesigned, it’s smaller and looks more like a dog tag, tastefully anodized in orange to match Blurs, Buddys, and Stellas. Good call, Miguel.
7 thoughts on “Chicago city stickers expire today”
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I don’t get it. Those things are kinda cool though it’s never fun to pay money to the government. Do they take the place of the registration sticker on a license plate? Or is it like paying a one-time public parking fee? Where do you put them? Do you get to keep the old ones when they expire? How long have these been around?
they’ve been around since at least the 70s, they’ve always been big 4″ diameter metal discs, this year they made them much smaller. They’re actually not quite as neat looking as they used to be, but at least they’re easier to mount. Most people just attach them to a license plate bolt.
It’s the “city road use tax,” so it’s not specifically parking, it’s just a tax to help maintain the roads I guess.
Cars get a sticker, and it’s $90, and always butt-ugly, and it’s nearly impossible to remove the old one and get the new one lined up right, so at least for a M/C it’s a little more interesting, and something to hang from your jacket zipper when it expires.
We still have to pay state registration (plate sticker) on top of this. Chicago, as of today’s sales tax increase, has the highest taxes in the U.S. Oh well, I’m used to it, and it’s a pretty great place to live, other than the cost of living, weather, corrupt government, and traffic.
“…it’s a pretty great place to live, other than the cost of living, weather, corrupt government, and traffic.”
And the jerks. Don’t forget the jerks.
Scraping off the car sticker is not at all fun. I refuse to be “that person” who has the whole passenger side of the windshield dedicated to past years’ city stickers.
But, my gripe with the motorcycle/scooter medallion is that it is so easily stolen. I had my 2007 medalliion bolted to my plate, and it was stolen by some ass. Unfortunately, I realized it was gone when I received a ticket for not having a medallion. I contested the hefty fine, submitting my purchase receipt and records for the ’07 medallion. So, Chicago being Chicago, they changed the ticket to an “improperly displayed” medallion and I was forced to pay it.
My recommendation for newbies – Purchase a nylon lock nut (metal nut with a nylon locking thread) and secure the medallion that way. Definitely do not use the cheapy nylon nut and bolt that comes with your scooter.
@wulf:
It’s actually illegal to keep the old stickers on your windshield. I can’t see them ticketing someone unless they’ve got a dozen of ’em, or they’ve done something else to attact attention, but it is illegal.
Good point, the wierder fastener you use (torx, or even better yet, safety torx) , the better chance you have of not getting it stolen. Sadly, even if you rivet it on, someone can probably still hork it, people used to steal the old ones with tin snips. Might help to put it BEHIND your plate (with the number sticking out the bottom), just because it’d make it that much harder to pry off. If you’re really paranoid, drill another hole through “DEL” and your plate, and throw another bolt on there. : )
I’ve heard of other people that had them stolen getting replacement ones with only a bit of hassle, but maybe since you got ticketed before you reported it, you got screwed. That’s unfair, I’m sorry.
Bryan, Thanks for sharing. It’s pretty interesting in a weird anorak way.
Yeah, most people hate ’em, but I think they’re kind of neat. I’m actually a socialist, a sucker, and a nerd, so I actually buy them for all my scooters every year, even the ones that don’t run, so I have a pretty large collection. I’ll miss the old-style ones, but I’ve got plenty of them, and they were too big to rivet to a jacket, these’ll look nice jingling from keychains or jacket zippers.
I don’t have a photo of the old ones handy, but here’s the Slaughterhouse 7 patch, which I designed based on the city medallion design: