Tama Co. Drivers License office. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

The Tama County Treasurer’s Office in Toledo began assessing a new convenience fee at their driver’s license station on July 1. The fee is $10 and applies only to out-of-county customers who travel in to complete driver’s license and identification transactions in Tama County.

Customers must either reside in Tama County or pay property taxes in Tama County to avoid the fee.

The new out-of-county convenience fee was recently approved by the Iowa Legislature as part of House File 718 that included several changes to local government and property tax guidelines.

The new convenience fee is optional for county offices to participate in but it is expected that over a quarter of the counties across the state have opted in to the program. Another 16 counties do not have a county-operated driver’s license station, but are instead home to a driver’s license office operated by the Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT).

“Since our driver’s license station is funded by Tama County tax dollars, our first priority is to the customers and tax payers from Tama County,” Tama County Treasurer Amanda Kriegel said. “We have a sizable percentage of our driver’s license and ID customers that come to our office from other counties. We are always happy to help those customers, but with this new convenience fee we are able to better justify the local resources put into our driver’s license department that serves Tama County as well as the surrounding areas.”

The $10 convenience fee must be paid by cash. Check and card payments are not accepted at this time, however the Iowa DOT is working to provide options for payment of this fee by check or card. The fee does not apply to motor vehicle or property tax transactions. All Iowa DOT fees for license and identification card services still apply in addition to the new convenience fee.

Transactions at driver’s license stations operated directly by the Iowa DOT, such as those in Marshalltown, Waterloo and Cedar Rapids are not subject to the convenience fee, regardless of county of residence.

Those with questions are encouraged to contact the Tama County Treasurer’s Office during business hours at (641) 484-3141 (opt.1). Driver’s license and identification services in Tama County are by appointment only. Appointments can be scheduled over the phone or online at https://www.tamacounty.iowa.gov/treasurer/drivers_license.