The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1921-06-04
DATED JULY l
Minimum Charge for Tag Is
IS Per Year.
Only One.HaIf of Annual Fee
To Be Paid Now.

Five carloads of automobile licenee
tags have been received by L. J. Pet
tijohn, secretary of state, in prepare
ton for the new automobile tax law
other carload is en- route. In all, $780,
600 tags have been ordered.
Instructions have been issued to
county treasurers who collect the IL
cense fees authorizing them to receive
applications beginning June IS. This
is done in order to tighten the work
both for the county and state officials.
All applications, however, are to be
dated July 1. After license tags have
been applied for, the law allows fif-
teen days grace in which cars may be
driven without tags. This means that
after July Is local authorities will be-
gin to make arrests for unlicensed
cars.
Now in hands of the state printer
is copy for a 125-page booklet listing
all models Of cars ever made by the
manufacturers, with the weights. This
was prepared by Z. A. Cornell. chief
of the automobile license division of
the secretary of states office, and re-
quired considerable time. The book
lets will be ready to send out to coun-
~ treasurers in a few days.
Must Know Model OF Car.
The new law provides for a gradu-
atsd fee. The minimum for motor
passenger vehicles, other than motor
cycles, is($S, and in addition so cents
1pr each 100 pounds gross weight in
excess of 1000 pounds. 1t is estinlat-
ed the average will be about SIP. At
present the license fee is SIS flat. The
increased scale is still so per cent low
er than Oklahoma and is about on a
par with Missouri and Nebraska, ac-
cording to Cornell.
With the exception of Ford cars,
all models of which are less than 1000
II TTfFG n nd IL
rate 1t Will be necessary for the own
er to know the year and model num-
Der to make application for a tag. All
electric cars require $40 fee.
The motorcycle license rate is S.
For trucks the fee is SIS for a rated
capacity OF one ton or less, $22.50 for
one and one-half ton capacity $50 for
two tons, $3.50 for two and one-haIf
tons, $45 for three tons, $40 for four
tons, 800 for five tons, and S25 for
tons.
only one-half of the annual license
Zee IS to be paid July 1. Under the
new law the tax will be placed on the
calendar year basis in 1922.
The new tags have a lemon yellow
background with figures embossed in
black. The nearest to this color for
merry used was in 1915, when the
combination was orange and black
As an innovation this year the figures
Will De set OFF by commas to designate
thousands. This is designed to aid
patrolmen in catching the numbers of
speeding cars. The figures "21" for
the year will also appear for the first
time. Twenty thousand of the 30o,-
600 tags ordered are for trucks and
bear the distinguishing letter IT.
They are serially numbered from / to
10000. The tags this year cost 9A
cents +. o. b. Topeka, which is a small
fraction of a cent more than last year.
On June 1 licenses for the present
fiscal year reached 2S6,743, and it is
expected 1000 more will be taken out
between now and July /. OF the total
number 19. 460 are for trucks.
AS formerly, $3.50 from the license
goes into the road drag fund. Fifty
cents is deducted as a fee covering ex-
-penses of handling in the secretary of
States office. Last year. however. rs
cents out of the so cents was returned
10 the counties. All above IS goes into
the state aid" road fund provided for
by a separate 1921 law. If the as
sumed average of s12 a car is correct.
slightly more than 100000 will &c
into this fund the first year.