Why your SC DMV license decal, registration may be delayed and when you should receive it
South Carolina residents who recently paid their vehicle tax may face delays in getting a new registration card and license plate decal.
A vendor for the S.C. Department of Motor Vehicles recently ran out of the type of paper used for vehicle registrations, "due to a supply chain issue," DMV Executive Director Kevin Shwedo said in a Sept. 9 news statement.
"We've been in constant communication with our contracted vendor, but with an extremely limited amount of companies that offer this product, we've been forced to slow production of registration cards until we can get the next shipment delivered," Shwedo stated.
"We expect the backlog to be resolved by the middle of October, but we recommend you keep your paid property tax receipt in your vehicle until your decal and registration arrives," Shwedo added. "Once the supplies have been restocked, registrations will automatically be mailed out so there is no need to request a duplicate copy."
Spartanburg County caught off guard by paper shortage
Spartanburg County Treasurer Owen Brady said he only recently learned about the paper shortage, and that his office has already gotten calls from residents who paid their car tax a month ago but had not received their registration or decal.
"The public needs to know," Brady said. "Anyone who paid taxes at the end of August or on Sept. 1 probably doesn't have a decal yet."
The DMV alerted law enforcement about the issue via a bulletin from the agency on Sept. 9.
"Law enforcement officers are able to see whether or not a customer's registration is current via a query to the SCDMV's record database, even if the registration has not been printed yet," the DMV news release stated.
Brady said many residents pay their car tax in person at his office in the county administration building on North Church Street, then receive their registration and decal in the same location.
But he said the county is almost out of the paper stock used to print the cards and decals.
He said his office orders 12,000 forms from the DMV each month and did not receive any last week.
"I've only got 4,000 now," Brady said. "Next week is the end of the month when people pay their bill and there will be a line down the hall."
Brady said he's heard from other treasurers and auditors across the state that have run into the same problem, and are fearing a deluge of complaints until the process returns to normal.
"We've been doing this since September 2006," Brady said. "In 16 years we've never had this issue."
Contact Bob Montgomery at bob.montgomery@shj.com. Please support our coverage of Spartanburg County with a digital subscription.
This article originally appeared on Herald-Journal: SC DMV paper shortage causing delay in license decals, registrations
