Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities

Trying to avoid a little sticker shock

I should probably assert my Fifth Amendment privilege at this point. But I need a column, so here goes.

A little more than nine years ago, I bought a new car. It had around 40 miles on it, thanks to prior test drives, but it was mine for a few years servitude to 4 percent interest.

Those years of servitude are long gone, and the car I now own just passed 107,000 miles.

Every November I’ve had that car, the New Mexico Department of Revenue and Taxation reminds me I’m not forward thinking. I’m given the option to renew my vehicle for either one year or two years. Nine times I’ve been offered, and I’ve never taken the two-year option.

This year, I got the renewal notice for about $37. I could have paid $72 and saved a few bucks, but that $35 seemed better spent on a family Christmas present. I immediately went online, took the one-year option and ignored the temporary registration I’d received via email. I’ll never need that.

I got the registration, complete with sticker, about a week later. It wasn’t even mid-November yet, and my previous tags took me through 2018. I figured I’d get around to it eventually and put it away ... somewhere.

Flash back to this week. We’re nearly two weeks into 2019, but I still haven’t gotten around to placing that “19” sticker over the “18” sticker, which was placed over the “17” sticker a year ago, etc. Because of this, I’m extra careful not to get pulled over. Technically, I’m driving illegally. I’m a scofflaw, I think.

Late one night, while returning from a basketball tournament — the blue and red flash ensues. “How did that officer see my ‘18’ sticker? That thing’s one square inch.”

He didn’t see it, but he did see my license plate light was out. As I handed over the license and insurance, I leafed through my glove compartment for my registration. I didn’t have the temporary registration card, but I later discovered it had already expired anyway.

“Officer, I’ll just be honest,” I said. “I haven’t put the sticker on yet, and I can’t find my registration. But it is current.”

He trusted me, but took my expired registration as a guide. He returned a few minutes later with a verbal warning to fix that light, said nothing about the registration and went on his way.

It was too late to find an auto parts store, so I looked for my registration. Nowhere in my now clean car. Nowhere in my now clean office. Nowhere in my now-clean apartment.

Guess I’m going to the MVD on Monday ... until a non license plate bulb went off in my head.

I logged on, renewed my registration through 2020 and printed off the temporary registration card. I paid a $37 courtesy fee to avoid the MVD, and as an added bonus got another year of registration.

Will I be smart this time and put the “20” sticker on my plate as soon as I pull it out of the mailbox? At this time, I wish to assert my Fifth Amendment privilege.

Kevin Wilson is editor of The Eastern New Mexico News. Contact him at:

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