The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
SGI is updating the vehicle registration system in Saskatchewan, making it more fair and balanced for all motorists. The changes to simplify the system will be phased in over the next year and a half and represent the first registration fee changes since 1993. Effective Jan. 1st, 2005, most light vehicles will be registered under the new Class LV, eliminating the five different registration classes that exist today for cars, pick up trucks, sport utility vehicles and vans. To prepare for that change, the seven different fee levels will be replaced with a flat $68 registration fee as of July 1st, 2004. Vans and sport utility vehicles currently registered in Class F will also be moved to the new class. See 'Vehicle' P.# Con't from P.# "The creation of Class LV makes an overly complicated system simpler for our customers to understand and for our motor licence issuers to administer," Minister Responsible for SGI Maynard Sonntag said. "Some vehicle owners will pay less under the new system and no one will experience an increase of more than $10 a year." Registration fees for approximately 450,000 private vehicles in Classes PV, F, A, C and D will go up by $10 per year, approximately 5,200 vehicle fees will stay the same, while fees for the other 196,000 vehicles will decrease. Registration fees are collected by SGI on behalf of the provincial government to help pay for many provincial expenditures, including road and highway maintenance. Because heavy vehicles can cause considerable damage on Saskatchewan highways, heavy vehicle registration fees will be re-balanced over the next year. "The re-balancing of fees improves fairness so that those heavy vehicles which cause more damage on our roads pay higher registration fees," Sonntag said. "These initial adjustments set the stage for the move to one heavy commercial vehicle class." Due to their growing use and wear on Saskatchewan roads, farm trailers over 4,600 kg (10,000 lbs) will no longer be exempt from registration fees as of July 1st, 2005. As a result, the gross weight of these farm trailers will be included in calculating the registration fee for the large trucks pulling these trailers. SGI has worked hard to ensure these vehicle registration changes mean a simpler system that's easier for motorists to understand and that fairly redistributes the fees paid by vehicle owners.
