City Clerk Mendoza poses next to Chicago's 2012-2013 city vehicle sticker

One month earlier than in past years, City Clerk Susana Mendoza has opened sales for Chicago city vehicle stickers a full month early starting today.

City stickers are available at all three City Clerk office locations, all four Department of Revenue payment locations and also at over 400 neighborhood Currency Exchanges.

Historically, in-person city sticker sales began June 1st for the month of June, but then drivers were given a 15 day grace period from July 1st to July 15th to buy and get their sticker onto their car’s windshield.

“We’ve made a number of changes to this year’s vehicle sticker sales process,
including extending the sales period to help reduce in person wait times and allow ample time for people to purchase their sticker,” said Clerk Mendoza. “We’ve already seen a dramatic increase in our online sales, with nearly 13,000 more stickers sold in the first week of online sales compared to last year.”

With 10 weeks of sales instead of the normal six weeks, City Clerk staff is hoping the extended buying season will dramatically reduce lines and wait times as well as make the sales season less hectic and stressful.

And so far, it seems to be working as lines at the Clerk’s City Hall offices, sales volume are brisk and lines are moving fast according to City Clerk spokesperson Kristine Williams.

“The lines have been steady today, but not like before,” says Williams. “Hopefully stretching the season out will reduce wait times.”

Chicago vehicle owners, in order to purchase their city sticker, must bring their driver’s license or renewal form and know their vehicle license plate number. Drivers should also make sure they have the make and model of their car so it can be added to the front of this year’s city sticker–a new security feature added this year.

Unfortunately for drivers, the cost of city stickers have gone up this year as Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the City Council bumped up prices last fall.

Passenger car stickers are now $85, a $10 increase while SUVs city stickers will now be $135 a $15 increase. Pickup trucks are now $200, a $20 increase and larger trucks are $450 a $30 bump.

In addition, drivers who refuse to purchase this year’s sticker risk a $200 fine for failure to purchase or display a 2012-2013 city sticker. That compares to $120 last year. Late fees have also risen going up to $60 from the $40 price last year.