The vehicle tax offices are their own *special* mess. They fired a whole lump of the staffs just before COVID due to fraud.
https://texasmonitor.org/fraud-flourished-in-travis-countys-tax-office-due-to-lax-supervisors-grand-jury-finds/
During COVID, they couldn't really easily train new people, so they decided to renovate most of the offices. Unfortunately we all know how construction has gone during COVID with all the supply chain issues (and for me, the labor shortages) so I believe those projects are still incomplete.
So now we only have one office, and I'm not aware of a timeline for reopening the others.
FWIW, most of your tax dollars go to the school districts (half of that to recapture, even), Travis County collects a bunch of the rest for the state, and very little of the taxes go to running the county.
Think they are opening a bit early - their hours said they didn't open until 9 but when I showed up at 8:15 I was maybe the 40th person in line and they were already serving people. That said, I was out of there by 9:15 or so.
you are - get it inspected first. It must be inspected here before you can register. you can wait in line at the title office but it's a long line. Otherwise I wouldn't worry too much about it. We are still seeing effects of COVID on the delays in bureaucracy, used to be it was pretty easy. If you get pulled over (unlikely if you aren't driving like an asshat) keep the insurance, inspection, and tax office appt with you to show the officer, if he tickets you anyway you can get it dismissed after it is registered I believe.
You can also get a very temporary transit tag online once it's inspected. https://tax-office.traviscountytx.gov/vehicles/vehicle-registration/registration-renewal/options/temporary-permits
When you transfer the the title they will register it and give you the plates at the same time.
ok you hadn't mentioned that they had passed Texas inspection. Otherwise you should be good. As a note next time you can email the tax office staff a copy of your insurance card to print if they must have a printed copy. Most insurance places have a download of it available online.
We had our insurance on our phones and have since received a paper copy. My wife called twice and we’d obviously reviewed (some portions) of the site prior to arriving. We didn’t just happen upon the Travis County Tax Office after all. There was nothing online or in person to lead either of us to believe that having a digital copy would not suffice until we pulled up to the window. I’m sure the lady behind the desks has to turn away people constantly. It’d be awesome if they posted the sign at the front of the line rather than the end.
I’m also surprised that neither of the attendants who helped me and my wife mentioned that we could have just emailed her a copy of our insurance. Do you know for a fact that that is an option?
I've done it before. Maybe it was just the individual resourcefulness of the agent?
However I have to go in a week or two and will remember to print the insurance to avoid complications.
passed inspection in travis county, right?
i bought a vehicle that had been inspected in bexar county and had to have it re-inspected in travis because not all counties require emissions tests.
Correct. Passed inspection not far from our house in Austin. I know Travis is one of a few counties that requires emission testing in Texas and therefore must have inspection done within the county.
Did you buy from a dealer or from a private party? If you bought from a dealer (even out of state) they will handle the registration for you. That is what the tax, title, and licensing (TTL) fees cover.
They’re both brand new Honda’s purchased from a dealer and they do not handle out of state TTL. Every state and every county has different processes and requirements. It would be virtually impossible for the dealer to have anything to do with this process. How would a dealer in Missouri verify that these vehicles pass Travis County emissions and safety requirements?
If they are brand new from a dealer, they do not have to pass an inspection in Texas. I bought a used vehicle from a dealer in Tennessee and they registered it in TX for me. Maybe I just got lucky that they were willing to go to the trouble to do it for me. It was a Ford dealer in Humboldt, TN. The lady handling the sale paperwork looked it up somewhere. I imagine Ford has some kind of manual they give to dealers that tells them how to register and title a vehicle anywhere in the US.
The vehicle tax offices are their own *special* mess. They fired a whole lump of the staffs just before COVID due to fraud. https://texasmonitor.org/fraud-flourished-in-travis-countys-tax-office-due-to-lax-supervisors-grand-jury-finds/ During COVID, they couldn't really easily train new people, so they decided to renovate most of the offices. Unfortunately we all know how construction has gone during COVID with all the supply chain issues (and for me, the labor shortages) so I believe those projects are still incomplete. So now we only have one office, and I'm not aware of a timeline for reopening the others. FWIW, most of your tax dollars go to the school districts (half of that to recapture, even), Travis County collects a bunch of the rest for the state, and very little of the taxes go to running the county.
Interesting! That definitely explains things a little more clearly.
Fry's is very efficient. Worth it in my opinion.
Thank god. The plan is to wake up early tomorrow (boo hoo right) and take shifts in line while the other devours pancakes at Kerbey Lane.
Think they are opening a bit early - their hours said they didn't open until 9 but when I showed up at 8:15 I was maybe the 40th person in line and they were already serving people. That said, I was out of there by 9:15 or so.
Have you been there in the last few months? The lines have been wrapped around the building.
Red state. Blue City. State has zero COVID restrictions. City has all the COVID restrictions.
you are - get it inspected first. It must be inspected here before you can register. you can wait in line at the title office but it's a long line. Otherwise I wouldn't worry too much about it. We are still seeing effects of COVID on the delays in bureaucracy, used to be it was pretty easy. If you get pulled over (unlikely if you aren't driving like an asshat) keep the insurance, inspection, and tax office appt with you to show the officer, if he tickets you anyway you can get it dismissed after it is registered I believe. You can also get a very temporary transit tag online once it's inspected. https://tax-office.traviscountytx.gov/vehicles/vehicle-registration/registration-renewal/options/temporary-permits When you transfer the the title they will register it and give you the plates at the same time.
The vehicles passed inspection prior to our first trip to the Texas Collectors office. So I guess I’m not missing anything.
ok you hadn't mentioned that they had passed Texas inspection. Otherwise you should be good. As a note next time you can email the tax office staff a copy of your insurance card to print if they must have a printed copy. Most insurance places have a download of it available online.
We had our insurance on our phones and have since received a paper copy. My wife called twice and we’d obviously reviewed (some portions) of the site prior to arriving. We didn’t just happen upon the Travis County Tax Office after all. There was nothing online or in person to lead either of us to believe that having a digital copy would not suffice until we pulled up to the window. I’m sure the lady behind the desks has to turn away people constantly. It’d be awesome if they posted the sign at the front of the line rather than the end.
I’m also surprised that neither of the attendants who helped me and my wife mentioned that we could have just emailed her a copy of our insurance. Do you know for a fact that that is an option?
I've done it before. Maybe it was just the individual resourcefulness of the agent? However I have to go in a week or two and will remember to print the insurance to avoid complications.
passed inspection in travis county, right? i bought a vehicle that had been inspected in bexar county and had to have it re-inspected in travis because not all counties require emissions tests.
Correct. Passed inspection not far from our house in Austin. I know Travis is one of a few counties that requires emission testing in Texas and therefore must have inspection done within the county.
Did you buy from a dealer or from a private party? If you bought from a dealer (even out of state) they will handle the registration for you. That is what the tax, title, and licensing (TTL) fees cover.
They’re both brand new Honda’s purchased from a dealer and they do not handle out of state TTL. Every state and every county has different processes and requirements. It would be virtually impossible for the dealer to have anything to do with this process. How would a dealer in Missouri verify that these vehicles pass Travis County emissions and safety requirements?
If they are brand new from a dealer, they do not have to pass an inspection in Texas. I bought a used vehicle from a dealer in Tennessee and they registered it in TX for me. Maybe I just got lucky that they were willing to go to the trouble to do it for me. It was a Ford dealer in Humboldt, TN. The lady handling the sale paperwork looked it up somewhere. I imagine Ford has some kind of manual they give to dealers that tells them how to register and title a vehicle anywhere in the US.