Mississippi tax assessors are busy preparing to implement a new vehicle registration system that may help with stricter auto insurance enforcement.
House Bill 319, which passed the Mississippi House of Representatives on an 82-33 vote on Jan. 11, would require motorists to show proof of auto insurance to renew vehicle registration.
Mississippi has compulsory auto insurance laws, according to the Mississippi Department of Revenue, but does not enforce them through vehicle registration.
Mississippi District 37 Rep. Gary Chism (R-Columbus) said HB 319 will change that.
“You’re required to have insurance, but 28 percent of people don’t,” Chism said. “With this bill, you’re going to be required to have some. At least for that month, you’re going to have insurance, or you’re not going to get a tag. I think it was a much-needed bill.”
Chism, who voted “present” on HB 319, is the chair of the House Insurance Committee. He said he voted present because he works in insurance.
Chism said the bill will go to the Senate, where it will be assigned to a committee.
While the bill works through the legislators, county tax offices are busy implementing the Mississippi Automated Registration Vehicle Information Network (MARVIN) system for vehicle registration.
Lowndes County Tax Assessor Greg Andrews said the new system is internet-based, compared to the old PC-based system many counties currently use. He said the new system, which better lends itself to keeping up with auto insurance, can check on insurance records nightly to ensure they are up-to-date.
Right now, Andrews said holds can be issued for several violations — tickets issued for expired tags, tickets with $250 or greater fines, unpaid garbage bills, a vehicle being sold but not transferred to the new owner and other reasons.
If HB 319 passes, car owners will also have to have auto insurance to renew their license plate tag.
Andrews said much of the preparation process for MARVIN has involved implementing the system at the state level and updating state computer systems, as well as allowing time for some counties to update their computer hardware.
Andrews said Lowndes County’s computers are already updated and ready to use the new system.
“A lot of the county computers were very up-to-date,” Andrews said. “Meanwhile, a lot of the Department of Revenue computers were very, very outdated.
“Until the state’s system was updated, then we could not do what we wanted to do to put some enforcement in the bill,” he added.
Lisa Chism, who is with the state Department of Revenue and is not related to the representative, said the old system counties use is about 40 years old. MARVIN, which is scheduled to go live in October, should improve efficiencies.
“For example, they currently have to calculate things by hand,” she said. “With MARVIN, the system will be able to calculate those fees for them.”
Lisa Chism said the system has a roughly 18-month preparation period, and she’s worked with county tax assessors since last May to prepare for the transition. Most of the state’s counties are ready to implement the new system.
According to a list sent out to assessors last week, 60 of the state’s 82 counties have computers that are ready to use the MARVIN system.
Some counties, like Oktibbeha County, still need to upgrade their system hardware.
Oktibbeha County Tax Assessor/Collector Allen Morgan said the county will purchase new computers to implement the system.
“We will be buying eight new computers and a new laser printer in the next few weeks,” Morgan said. “That’ll run us around $14,000 to $15,000.”
Andrews said implementing MARVIN will ultimately smooth the tag renewal process, once tax offices get used to the new system.
“You’re going to see a slowdown in getting your tag for about the first four or six months,” Andrews said. “But after those four to six months, I think you’re going to see a more efficient statewide deal. I think there are a lot of kinks to work out, and once those kinks are worked out, I think you’re going to see it roll.”
Alex Holloway was formerly a reporter with The Dispatch.
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