Why Thurston residents will get paper vehicle permits instead of metal license plates
Drivers looking to get metal license plates may need to settle for temporary paper permits as the county responds to a statewide metal plate shortage.
The shortage impacts passenger vehicle licensing customers rather than truck, trailer and motorcycle licensing customers, according to a county news release.
The Thurston County Auditor’s Office and its eight licensing subagents started issuing the paper permits Wednesday, Auditor Mary Hall told The Olympian. They also will issue tabs that can be attached to metal plates once they are available.
The paper permits are valid for two months and may be displayed just as temporary plates are displayed for newly purchased cars.
Hall said she has heard conflicting dates for when more metal plates may arrive.
“While we haven’t heard for certain when metal plates will be available, we hope our customers are patient while we work through this,” Hall said in the release.
The state Department of Corrections usually makes licenses plates, but production slowed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the release. In response, the DOC increased staffing and outsourced production to an out-of-state vendor on July 31, the news release says.
Hall said the county and its subagents still have varying inventories of metal plates, but these are being saved for dealership transactions.
“The state (Department of Licensing) has instructed us to prioritize car dealership transactions for our small remaining inventory of metal plates,” Hall said in the news release. “We’ll work with customers to get them their metal plates as soon as they are available.”
The Thurston County Auditor’s Licensing office is at 2000 Lakeridge Drive SW in Olympia and is generally open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., although some services may only be available before 4 p.m.
A list of the eight available subagents can be found on the Auditor’s Office website.
This story was originally published July 28, 2021 at 1:21 PM.
