By The Associated Press
OLYMPIA — The cost of getting or renewing a driver’s license in our state is going up Monday (Oct. 1) from $25 to $45.
The cost of getting a new license will be even more expensive: $80. The application fee is $35 (up from $20 for first-time licenses), and the license costs $45; it will be $54 for a six-year license, starting next June.
On top of that, new teen drivers and other new state drivers, such as adults and residents from out-of-state or out-of-country, will have to pay up to $65 on top of those fees for the driver’s exam.
Registration fees also increase Monday. The cost for a certificate of ownership application, for instance, rises from $5 to $15.
The fee increases are the result of measures passed earlier this year by the state Legislature and will go to fund roads, streets, bridges, ferries, transit systems and other services in the transportation system.
Some of the functions that have been handled by the state Department of Licensing — such as written and driving exams — are also being phased out.
Instead, the state will contract with private training schools and school districts, which will charge their own rates to administer the driver’s exams.
The application fee used to include the cost of the state’s exam. As of Monday, the state still will continue to charge the application fee, even if a driver paid to take the driver’s test through a private school, DOL spokeswoman Christine Anthony said.
It is all part of an effort to make the whole licensing process more convenient, the state says.
“This is a big change in the way we do business, and it will remove one of the most time-consuming transactions people have to do in our offices,” DOL Director Alan Haight said in a news release.
“It also will reduce wait times for other customers who must come into an office.”
Under the legislation, House Bill 1635, DOL also stopped administering motorcycle endorsement exams this year.
For a complete list of fees, go to http://tinyurl.com/pdnlicensefees .
