Erie County Clerk Chris Jacobs says businesses can help generate extra revenue for the county if they renew their vehicles' registrations locally. He detailed his new initiative at the home of one of its first clients.Standing at midfield inside Ralph Wilson Stadium in Orchard Park, Jacobs pitched his "Fleet Services Initiative", which encourages businesses with 10 or more vehicles to renew them either at a local auto bureau or by mail, using a green envelope provided by the county.
Options such as renewing online or by the state DMV's pink envelopes, he said, keeps all money raised in Albany, with none coming back to Erie County. He encouraged local businesses to "renew local."
"Because when you do that at a local auto bureau, or you mail in with one of our green envelopes, a percentage of that fee revenue stays in Erie County," Jacobs said. "And if everybody renewed their vehicle registration locally, we would keep a million and a half dollars, each and every year, here in Erie County."
The Fleet Services Initiative includes utilizing a designated representative who works with companies to assist in speeding up and completing the renewal process.
The Buffalo Bills, who have called "the Ralph" their home since it opened in 1973, registered 15 of their vehicles through Jacobs' initiative.
"Some of the things we noticed right away, as far as benefits are concerned, was a great dedicated service person that we could deal with directly, which really helped the process move along quickly and efficiently," said Andy Major, Vice President of Operations and Guest Experience for the Buffalo Bills. "We saved time. We saved time and saved some money in the process, and it was really seamless."
Jacobs proposed an idea for how to use the money generated through the Fleet Services Initiative.
"I've worked with the Legislature to propose an idea that this money, because the money is specifically fees and taxes related to automobiles... to consider earmarking these funds for something specfically related to that, which would be the roads," Jacobs said.
The County Clerk identified five locally-owned companies with large fleets of vehicles that have also committed to his initiative: Murray Roofing, Visone Construction, Buffalo Limousine, The Krog Corporation and Vastola Heating and Cooling.
Information about the initiative is available online at renewlocal.erie.gov.
