City Clerk Susana Mendoza works the line for city stickers at City Hall during lunch time Friday

Friday during lunch time, City Clerk Susana Mendoza stood in room 107 of City Hall, surrounded by drivers standing in line looking to purchase their 2012-2013 Chicago city vehicle sticker.

Between pointing motorists toward the next open window, answering questions and generally keeping the line moving as quickly as possible, Mendoza took a few moments when possible to shake hands, introduce herself and chat with the waiting, and sometimes impatient masses.

Mendoza and her staff do not like lines and have worked over her first 15 months in office to keep lines for in-person sales as short as possible this year through a emphasizing website sales and extending the sales season by a full month.

“This is the longest line we’ve seen so far,” said Mendoza enthusiastically about the lack of lines at City Hall this year. “It’s only the third day of long lines out the door (and into the hallway at City Hall. By extending the season the customer experience has been infinitely better.”

While many drivers waiting until the last minute before the June 30th expiration date of the 2011-2012 sticker were out in large numbers at City Clerk offices, Department of Finance payment centers and Currency Exchanges Friday and Saturday, vehicle owners actually have until July 15th to purchase and display their new city sticker.

But Clerk Mendoza does not want people to procrastinate and face fines and late charges. In fact, the City Clerk’s office is allowing drivers purchase their city stickers online until July 4th, confident that even these purchasers will receive their city sticker via U.S. mail before the July 15th deadline.

“I want Chicago drivers to avoid late fees and fines,” said Mendoza. “We have hundreds of locations where stickers can be purchased. Of course the easiest way to buy a sticker is using our new EZBuy online purchase application. Motorists who buy their stickers online by July 4 should receive them before the July 15th deadline.”

And this year, the fine and fees are steep and painful.

The fine for failure to display a current city vehicle sticker rose from $120 to $200–a fine that can be levied every day. While the fee for purchasing your city sticker late rose from $40 to $60.

The 2012-2012 city sticker will cost most car owners $85 this year, while owners of larger vehicles will pay $135.

For more information on city stickers, check out the Chicago City Clerk website.