                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

TAXES AND LICENSE FEES IMPOSED BY COUNTIES, CITIES, AND TOWNS; LIMITATIONS ON
AMOUNTS; DISPOSITION OF REVENUES; REQUIRING EVIDENCE OF PAYMENT OF PERSONAL
PROPERTY TAXES AND CERTAIN FINES; PROHIBITING DISPLAY OF LICENSES AFTER
EXPIRATION; FAILURE TO DISPLAY VALID LOCAL LICENSE REQUIRED BY OTHER LOCALITIES;
PENALTY (§ 46.2-752)

A. Except as provided in § 46.2-755, counties, cities, and towns may levy and
assess taxes and charge license fees on motor vehicles, trailers, and
semitrailers. However, none of these taxes and license fees shall be assessed or
charged by any county on vehicles owned by residents of any town located in the
county when such town constitutes a separate school district if the vehicles are
already subject to town license fees and taxes, nor shall a town charge a
license fee to any new resident of the town, previously a resident of a county
within which all or part of the town is situated, who has previously paid a
license fee for the same tax year to such county. The amount of the license fee
or tax imposed by any county, city, or town on any motor vehicle, trailer, or
semitrailer shall not be greater than the annual or one-year fee imposed by the
Commonwealth on the motor vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer in effect on January
1, 2020. The license fees and taxes shall be imposed in such manner, on such
basis, for such periods, and subject to proration for fractional periods of
years, as the proper local authorities may determine.
			Owners or lessees of motor vehicles, trailers, and semitrailers who have
served outside of the United States in the armed services of the United States
shall have a 90-day grace period, beginning on the date they are no longer
serving outside the United States, in which to comply with the requirements of
this section. For purposes of this section, &#8220;the armed services of the
United States&#8221; includes active duty service with the regular Armed Forces
of the United States or the National Guard or other reserve component.
			Local licenses may be issued free of charge for any or all of the following:

   1. Vehicles powered by clean special fuels as defined in &#xA7; 46.2-749.3,
   including dual-fuel and bi-fuel vehicles,

   2. Vehicles owned by volunteer emergency medical services agencies,

   3. Vehicles owned by volunteer fire departments,

   4. Vehicles owned or leased by active members or active auxiliary members of
   volunteer emergency medical services agencies,

   5. Vehicles owned or leased by active members or active auxiliary members of
   volunteer fire departments,

   6. Vehicles owned or leased by auxiliary police officers,

   7. Vehicles owned or leased by volunteer police chaplains,

   8. Vehicles owned by surviving spouses of persons qualified to receive special
   license plates under &#xA7; 46.2-739,

   9. Vehicles owned or leased by auxiliary deputy sheriffs or volunteer deputy
   sheriffs,

   10. Vehicles owned by persons qualified to receive special license plates
   under &#xA7; 46.2-739,

   11. Vehicles owned by any of the following who served at least 10 years in the
   locality: former members of volunteer emergency medical services agencies,
   former members of volunteer fire departments, former auxiliary police
   officers, members and former members of authorized police volunteer citizen
   support units, members and former members of authorized sheriff&#8217;s
   volunteer citizen support units, former volunteer police chaplains, and former
   volunteer special police officers appointed under former &#xA7; 15.2-1737. In
   the case of active members of volunteer emergency medical services agencies
   and active members of volunteer fire departments, applications for such
   licenses shall be accompanied by written evidence, in a form acceptable to the
   locality, of their active affiliation or membership, and no member of an
   emergency medical services agency or member of a volunteer fire department
   shall be issued more than one such license free of charge,

   12. All vehicles having a situs for the imposition of licensing fees under
   this section in the locality,

   13. Vehicles owned or leased by deputy sheriffs; however, no deputy sheriff
   shall be issued more than one such license free of charge,

   14. Vehicles owned or leased by police officers; however, no police officer
   shall be issued more than one such license free of charge,

   15. Vehicles owned or leased by officers of the State Police; however, no
   officer of the State Police shall be issued more than one such license free of
   charge,

   16. Vehicles owned or leased by salaried firefighters; however, no salaried
   firefighter shall be issued more than one such license free of charge,

   17. Vehicles owned or leased by salaried emergency medical services personnel;
   however, no salaried emergency medical services personnel shall be issued more
   than one such license free of charge,

   18. Vehicles with a gross weight exceeding 10,000 pounds owned by museums
   officially designated by the Commonwealth,

   19. Vehicles owned by persons, or their surviving spouses, qualified to
   receive special license plates under subsection A of &#xA7; 46.2-743, and

   20. Vehicles owned or leased by members of the Virginia Defense Force;
   however, no member of the Virginia Defense Force shall be issued more than one
   such license free of charge.
   				The governing body of any county, city, or town issuing licenses under
   this section may by ordinance provide for a 50 percent reduction in the fee
   charged for the issuance of any such license issued for any vehicle owned or
   leased by any person who is 65 years old or older. No such discount, however,
   shall be available for more than one vehicle owned or leased by the same
   person.
   				The governing body of any county, city, or town issuing licenses free of
   charge under this subsection may by ordinance provide for (i) the limitation,
   restriction, or denial of such free issuance to an otherwise qualified
   applicant, including without limitation the denial of free issuance to a
   taxpayer who has failed to timely pay personal property taxes due with respect
   to the vehicle and (ii) the grounds for such limitation, restriction, or
   denial.
   				The situs for the imposition of licensing fees under this section shall in
   all cases, except as hereinafter provided, be the county, city, or town in
   which the motor vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer is normally garaged, stored,
   or parked. If it cannot be determined where the personal property is normally
   garaged, stored, or parked, the situs shall be the domicile of its owner. In
   the event the owner of the motor vehicle is a full-time student attending an
   institution of higher education, the situs shall be the domicile of such
   student, provided the student has presented sufficient evidence that he has
   paid a personal property tax on the motor vehicle in his domicile.

B. The revenue derived from all county, city, or town taxes and license fees
imposed on motor vehicles, trailers, or semitrailers shall be applied to general
county, city, or town purposes.

C. A county, city, or town may require that no motor vehicle, trailer, or
semitrailer shall be locally licensed until the applicant has produced
satisfactory evidence that all personal property taxes on the motor vehicle,
trailer, or semitrailer to be licensed have been paid and satisfactory evidence
that any delinquent motor vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer personal property
taxes owing have been paid which have been properly assessed or are assessable
against the applicant by the county, city, or town. A county, city, or town may
also provide that no motor vehicle license shall be issued unless the tangible
personal property taxes properly assessed or assessable by that locality on any
tangible personal property used or usable as a dwelling titled by the Department
of Motor Vehicles and owned by the taxpayer have been paid. Any county and any
town within any such county may by agreement require that all personal property
taxes assessed by either the county or the town on any vehicle be paid before
licensure of such vehicle by either the county or the town.

C1. The Counties of Dinwiddie, Lee, and Wise may, by ordinance or resolution
adopted after public notice and hearing and, with the consent of the treasurer,
require that no license may be issued under this section unless the applicant
has produced satisfactory evidence that all fees, including delinquent fees,
payable to such county or local solid waste authority, for the disposal of solid
waste pursuant to the Virginia Water and Waste Authorities Act (&#xA7; 15.2-5100
et seq.), or pursuant to &#xA7; 15.2-2159, have been paid in full. For purposes
of this subsection, all fees, including delinquent fees, payable to a county for
waste disposal services described herein, shall be paid to the treasurer of such
county; however, in Wise County, the fee shall be paid to the county or its
agent.

D. The Counties of Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun, and Prince William and towns
within them and any city may require that no motor vehicle, trailer, or
semitrailer shall be licensed by that jurisdiction unless all fines owed to the
jurisdiction by the owner of the vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer for violation
of the jurisdiction&#8217;s ordinances governing parking of vehicles have been
paid. The provisions of this subsection shall not apply to vehicles owned by
firms or companies in the business of renting motor vehicles.

E. If in any county imposing license fees and taxes under this section, a town
therein imposes like fees and taxes on vehicles of owners resident in the town,
the owner of any vehicle subject to the fees or taxes shall be entitled, on the
owner&#8217;s displaying evidence that he has paid the fees or taxes, to receive
a credit on the fees or taxes imposed by the county to the extent of the fees or
taxes he has paid to the town. Nothing in this section shall deprive any town
now imposing these licenses and taxes from increasing them or deprive any town
not now imposing them from hereafter doing so, but subject to the limitations
provided in subsection D. The governing body of any county and the governing
body of any town in that county wherein each imposes the license tax herein
provided may provide mutual agreements so that not more than one license plate
or decal in addition to the state plate shall be required.

F. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection E, in a consolidated county
wherein a tier-city exists, the tier-city may, in accordance with the provisions
of the agreement or plan of consolidation, impose license fees and taxes under
this section in addition to those fees and taxes imposed by the county, provided
that the combined county and tier-city rates do not exceed the maximum provided
in subsection A. No credit shall be allowed on the fees or taxes imposed by the
county for fees or taxes paid to the tier-city, except as may be provided by the
consolidation agreement or plan. The governing body of any county and the
governing body of any tier-city in such county wherein each imposes the license
tax herein may provide by mutual agreement that no more than one license plate
or decal in addition to the state license plate shall be required.

G. Any county, city, or town may by ordinance provide that it shall be unlawful
for any owner or operator of a motor vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer (i) to
fail to obtain and, if any required by such ordinance, to display the local
license required by any ordinance of the county, city or town in which the
vehicle is registered, or (ii) to display upon a motor vehicle, trailer, or
semitrailer any such local license, required by ordinance to be displayed, after
its expiration date. The ordinance may provide that a violation shall constitute
a misdemeanor the penalty for which shall not exceed that of a Class 4
misdemeanor and may, in the case of a motor vehicle registered to a resident of
the locality where such vehicle is registered, authorize the issuance by local
law-enforcement officers of citations, summonses, parking tickets, or uniform
traffic summonses for violations. Any such ordinance may also provide that a
violation of the ordinance by the registered owner of the vehicle may not be
discharged by payment of a fine except upon presentation of satisfactory
evidence that the required license has been obtained. Nothing in this section
shall be construed to require a county, city, or town to issue a decal or any
other tangible evidence of a local license to be displayed on the licensed
vehicle if the county&#8217;s, city&#8217;s, or town&#8217;s ordinance does not
require display of a decal or other evidence of payment. No ordinance adopted
pursuant to this section shall require the display of any local license, decal,
or sticker on any vehicle owned by a public service company, as defined in
&#xA7; 56-76, having a fleet of at least 2,500 vehicles garaged in the
Commonwealth.

H. Except as provided by subsections E and F, no vehicle shall be subject to
taxation under the provisions of this section in more than one jurisdiction.
Furthermore, no person who has purchased a local vehicle license, decal, or
sticker for a vehicle in one county, city, or town and then moves to and garages
his vehicle in another county, city, or town shall be required to purchase
another local license, decal, or sticker from the county, city, or town to which
he has moved and wherein his vehicle is now garaged until the expiration date of
the local license, decal, or sticker issued by the county, city, or town from
which he moved.

I. Purchasers of new or used motor vehicles shall be allowed at least a 10-day
grace period, beginning with the date of purchase, during which to pay license
fees charged by local governments under authority of this section.

J. The treasurer or director of finance of any county, city, or town may enter
into an agreement with the Commissioner whereby the Commissioner will refuse to
issue or renew any vehicle registration of any applicant therefor who owes to
such county, city, or town any local vehicle license fees or delinquent tangible
personal property tax or parking citations. Before being issued any vehicle
registration or renewal of such license or registration by the Commissioner, the
applicant shall first satisfy all such local vehicle license fees and delinquent
taxes or parking citations and present evidence satisfactory to the Commissioner
that all such local vehicle license fees and delinquent taxes or parking
citations have been paid in full. However, a vehicle purchased by an applicant
subsequent to the onset of enforcement action under this subsection may be
issued an initial registration for a period of up to 90 days to allow the
applicant to satisfy all applicable requirements under this subsection, provided
that a fee sufficient for the registration period, as calculated under
subsection B of &#xA7; 46.2-694, is paid. Such initial registration shall not be
eligible for the one-month registration extension provided for in &#xA7;
46.2-646.2 for this same purpose. The Commissioner shall charge a reasonable fee
to cover the costs of such enforcement action, and the treasurer or director of
finance may add the cost of this fee to the delinquent tax bill or the amount of
the parking citation. The treasurer or director of finance of any county, city,
or town seeking to collect delinquent taxes or parking citations through the
withholding of registration or renewal thereof by the Commissioner as provided
for in this subsection shall notify the Commissioner in the manner provided for
in his agreement with the Commissioner and supply to the Commissioner
information necessary to identify the debtor whose registration or renewal is to
be denied. Any agreement entered into pursuant to the provisions of this
subsection shall provide the debtor notice of the intent to deny renewal of
registration or issuance of registration for any currently unregistered vehicle
at least 30 days prior to the expiration date of a current vehicle registration.
For the purposes of this subsection, notice by first-class mail to the
registrant&#8217;s address as maintained in the records of the Department of
Motor Vehicles shall be deemed sufficient. In the case of parking violations,
the Commissioner shall only refuse to issue or renew the vehicle registration of
any applicant therefor pursuant to this subsection for the vehicle that incurred
the parking violations. The provisions of this subsection shall not apply to
vehicles owned by firms or companies in the business of renting motor vehicles.

K. The governing bodies of any two or more counties, cities, or towns may enter
into compacts for the regional enforcement of local motor vehicle license
requirements. The governing body of each participating jurisdiction may by
ordinance require the owner or operator of any motor vehicle, trailer, or
semitrailer to display on his vehicle a valid local license issued by another
county, city, or town that is a party to the regional compact, provided that the
owner or operator is required by the jurisdiction of situs, as provided in
&#xA7; 58.1-3511, to obtain and display such license. The ordinance may also
provide that no motor vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer shall be locally licensed
until the applicant has produced satisfactory evidence that (i) all personal
property taxes on the motor vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer to be licensed have
been paid to all participating jurisdictions and (ii) any delinquent motor
vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer personal property taxes that have been properly
assessed or are assessable by any participating jurisdiction against the
applicant have been paid. Any city and any county having the urban county
executive form of government, the counties adjacent to such county and towns
within them may require that no motor vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer shall be
licensed by that jurisdiction or any other jurisdiction in the compact unless
all fines owed to any participating jurisdiction by the owner of the vehicle for
violation of any participating jurisdiction&#8217;s ordinances governing parking
of vehicles have been paid. The ordinance may further provide that a violation
shall constitute a misdemeanor the penalty for which shall not exceed that of a
Class 4 misdemeanor. Any such ordinance may also provide that a violation of the
ordinance by the owner of the vehicle may not be discharged by payment of a fine
and applicable court costs except upon presentation of satisfactory evidence
that the required license has been obtained. The provisions of this subsection
shall not apply to vehicles owned by firms or companies in the business of
renting motor vehicles.

L. In addition to the taxes and license fees permitted in subsection A,
counties, cities, and towns may charge a license fee of no more than $1 per
motor vehicle, trailer, and semitrailer. Except for the provisions of subsection
B, such fee shall be subject to all other provisions of this section. All funds
collected pursuant to this subsection shall be paid pursuant to &#xA7; 51.1-1204
to the Volunteer Firefighters&#8217; and Rescue Squad Workers&#8217; Service
Award Fund to the accounts of all members of the Fund who are volunteers for
fire departments or emergency medical services agencies within the jurisdiction
of the particular county, city, or town.

M. In any county, the county treasurer or comparable officer and the treasurer
of any town located wholly or partially within such county may enter into a
reciprocal agreement, with the approval of the respective local governing
bodies, that provides for the town treasurer to collect license fees or taxes on
any motor vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer owed to the county that are
non-delinquent, delinquent, or both or for the county treasurer to collect
license fees or taxes on any motor vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer owed to the
town that are non-delinquent, delinquent, or both. A treasurer or comparable
officer collecting any such license fee or tax pursuant to an agreement entered
into under this subsection shall account for and pay over such amounts to the
locality owed such license fee or tax in the same manner as provided by law. As
used in this subsection, with regard to towns, &#8220;treasurer&#8221; means the
town officer or employee vested with authority by the charter, statute, or
governing body to collect local taxes.

N. For any summons issued for a violation of this section, the court may, in its
discretion, dismiss the summons, where proof of compliance with this section is
provided to the court on or before the court date.

HISTORY: Code 1950, § 46-64; 1950, p. 240; 1952, c. 169; 1954, cc. 491, 594;
1956, cc. 66, 549, 570; 1958, c. 541, § 46.1-65; 1959, Ex. Sess., cc. 22, 55;
1962, c. 574; 1964, c. 218; 1972, c. 200; 1974, c. 621; 1975, c. 105; 1977, c.
166; 1979, c. 185; 1980, c. 105; 1982, c. 85; 1984, cc. 308, 630, 695; 1986, c.
123; 1987, cc. 208, 243; 1989, cc. 321, 706, 727; 1990, cc. 181, 187, 188, 455;
1991, c. 622; 1992, cc. 226, 355, 794, 806; 1993, cc. 50, 63, 175, 565; 1994,
cc. 528, 962; 1995, cc. 91, 412, 449, 460, 479, 659; 1996, cc. 89, 562; 1997,
cc. 246, 499, 905, 911; 1998, c. 649; 1999, c. 236; 2000, c. 303; 2001, cc. 338,
471, 605, 606; 2002, cc. 206, 553; 2003, c. 326; 2004, cc. 689, 723; 2005, c.
317; 2006, c. 148; 2007, cc. 213, 230, 813, 865; 2008, cc. 163, 457, 591; 2009,
cc. 366, 756, 843; 2010, cc. 125, 131; 2013, c. 82; 2014, c. 543; 2015, cc. 69,
502, 503; 2017, cc. 119, 670; 2018, c. 431; 2020, cc. 1230, 1275.