Sleepy Hollow considers how to enforce vehicle sticker compliance

After missing out on thousands of dollars in license fee revenue in recent years, Sleepy Hollow officials may soon be cracking down on residents who don't purchase their annual vehicle stickers.

Village President Stephan Pickett said the village is considering ways to regulate vehicle sticker compliance, such as purchasing a master list of all registered vehicles from the Secretary of State's office. From that data, which dates back two years, officials can identify those who have not paid their mandatory fees, he said.

At the very least, he said, they could more accurately calculate how many residents are violating the code.

In fiscal year 2015, Sleepy Hollow budgeted $75,000 for vehicle sticker revenue but received just shy of $72,000, Pickett said. In the two years prior, vehicle sticker costs generated $1,000 to $2,000 less than the budgeted $78,000.

"Why are we seeing a decrease in vehicle stickers when the population hasn't exhibited that big of a drop?" Pickett said, noting that the village can't afford to have that trend continue.

Money has been tight for Sleepy Hollow, where a decline in revenue left officials scrambling this past year to trim expenses. Residents will vote in March for a 33 percent property tax hike, and trustees are asking residents to submit ideas for how to generate funds.

"The last few years, of course, everything is dollar driven," Pickett said.

Annual license fees cost $30 for cars and minivans, $25 for motorcycles, $45 for trucks that weigh up to four tons and $55 for trucks more than four tons, according to the village code book. If the sticker isn't purchased by April 30, additional fees will follow.

The money generated by those fees are used strictly for roads and police funds, Pickett said.

Some residents have been getting away with not purchasing stickers for several years, he said, which causes other residents to complain or follow their practices.

"There are people that aren't paying for the use of the roads, and that's a big expense in this town," Police Chief James Linane said.

If that money to pay for road repairs isn't coming in, the village would have to pull funds from other areas, Trustee Scott Finney added at a village board meeting last week.

"It's a work in progress," Pickett said. "We're looking at all revenue streams and saying, if a little bit of enforcement on this could bring those dollars back up, it would be helpful for those funds they're utilized for."