Starting Jan. 1, Iowa's TIME 21 legislation, designed to address the condition of the state's roads and bridges, is set to enact several increases to vehicle registration fees.

Because residents can renew their registrations within one month of their expiration, this presents an opportunity for residents whose tags will expire in January - and a warning for those in December.

Residents whose vehicle registrations are due for renewal in December or January will be receiving notices that include both the old and new fee schedules, treasurer Ana Lorber explained.

"Everyone's getting two renewal notices, and they may or may not be the same," she said. "The important thing is people need to not toss that envelope, thinking it's something extra. They need to open it and they need to read it."

Whether residents' fees will actually change will depend on the details of their registration.

But since no fees are set to decrease under the new rules, the safest bet is to register by Dec. 31, when the current schedule still applies, Lorber said.

Renewals postmarked by Dec. 31 will still count under the old schedule, Lorber said.

The new fees will mean different things to different people, depending on the type of vehicle they own, its age, and other factors. "Every situation is going to be different," Lorber said.

For more, see our Nov. 24 print edition.