(A) Any person or firm residing within the corporate limits of the city or any corporation having its principal office or place of business in the city which owns any motor vehicle must purchase a license as hereinafter provided.
(B) Any person or firm residing outside the corporate limits of the city but with a Wilmington, Illinois mailing address, or any corporation having its business office or place of business outside the city, but with a Wilmington address, which owns a motor vehicle may purchase a non-resident license for the fees provided in Section 71.03 at any time during the year. The provisions of Section 71.99 shall not apply to non-residents. (Ord. 636, passed 9-15-70; amend. Ord. 718, passed 1-3-78; amend. Ord. 753, passed 3-20-79; amend. Ord. 8-20, passed 6-16-81)

Any person, firm, or corporation desiring a license for any motor vehicle shall apply to the city clerk upon a form provided giving the name and address of the applicant, a description of the motor vehicle for which the license is desired, the place where the motor vehicle is kept when not in use, and other information as may be prescribed. On the payment of the license fee hereinafter provided to the city clerk, the mayor shall issue or cause to be issued a license which shall be attested by the city clerk authorizing the use of the motor vehicle within the city until the expiration of the license. (Ord. 636, passed 9-15-70)

(A) All vehicle licenses issued on or after August 1st shall be issued and valid for a license period beginning August 1st and ending September 30th of the following year.
(B) Vehicle licenses shall be available for sale from the city beginning August 1st of each year for the license period August 1st and ending September 30th of the following year. Licenses purchased and issued between August 1st and September 30th shall pay the regular license fee, while licenses purchased on or after September 30th shall include a delinquent license fee. (Ord. 636, passed 9-15-70; Am. Ord. 718, passed 1-3-78; Am. Ord. 740, passed 11-21-78; Am. Ord. 87-6, passed 3-15-83; Am. Ord. 915, passed 5-15-84; Am. Ord. 1259, passed 8-5-97; Am. Ord. 1356, passed 4-3-01; Am. Ord. 1555, passed 6-3-03.)

(A) A vehicle license fee shall be paid to the city of Wilmington for each of the following classifications of motor vehicles in the amount indicated.

(B) Exceptions to the above fees:
(1) Any senior citizen, hereby defined as a person of the age of 65 or over when the license is purchased, who is a resident of the city, shall have the right to purchase one license in any category designed in subsections (A)(1) through (5) of this section for a fee of $5 if purchased on or before September 30th. Only one such license shall be allowed to be purchased each year by a husband and wife residing in the same household.
(2) Any person who acquires or purchases a vehicle required to be licensed herein, and purchases a license on or before the 30th day on which the vehicle was acquired or purchased, shall pay the fee for such license as though the license was purchased on or before September 30th, as provided in subsections (A)(1) through (5) of this section; but if that person does not purchase the license on or before the 30th day of acquisition or purchase of a vehicle, then the fee for such license shall be the fees fixed in subsections (A)(1) through (5) of this section when purchased on or after September 30th. (Ord. 636, passed 9-15-70; Am. Ord. 740, passed 11-21-78; Am. Ord. 1259, passed 8-5-97; Am. Ord. 1555, passed 6-3-03)

If the vehicle to be licensed has been purchased or lawfully acquired by the applicant on or after July 1, 1979 but before January 1, 1980, the fee to be paid shall be a sum equal to the annual license fee heretofore specified as a license fee for the balance of that year. If the vehicle to be licensed has been purchased or lawfully acquired by the applicant on or after January 1, 1981, or on or after January 1, of any year thereafter the fee to be paid shall be a sum equal to one-half the annual license fee heretofore specified as a license fee for the balance of that year. Before any applicant shall be entitled to a prorated license as provided for in this section, the applicant shall furnish an affidavit in form satisfactory to the city clerk that the vehicle for which the license is applied for was purchased or otherwise lawfully obtained by the applicant on or after July 1, 1979, but before January 1, 1980, or on or after January 1, 1981, or on January 1, of any year thereafter and shall also exhibit to the city clerk the bill of sale covering the vehicle. (Ord. 636, passed 9-15-70; amend Ord. 740, passed 11-21-78)

Immediately upon the sale of any vehicle licensed under the terms of this chapter, when the sale is made prior to the expiration of the license, the vendor shall remove the license plate or transparent sticker license emblem hereinafter provided for from the vehicle. (Ord. 636, passed 9-15-70)

(A) Whenever the owner of any vehicle licensed under this chapter, before the expiration of the license, sells or otherwise disposes of the vehicle, but thereafter acquires another vehicle of the same class as that for which the license was originally issued and desires a new license, the owner or owners shall make application to the city clerk for the license, giving such detailed description of the new vehicle as the city clerk shall require. Upon the surrender of the license plates (if any) or a sufficient amount of the transparent license emblem to prove to the city clerk that the emblem has been destroyed, a new license shall be issued as requested, upon the payment to the city clerk a fee of $1.
(B) Whenever the owner of any vehicle licensed under this chapter, before the expiration of the license, sells or otherwise disposes of the vehicle and thereafter acquires another vehicle of a class which requires the payment of a higher license fee than was originally paid for the vehicle disposed of, the owner shall make application for a license for the new vehicle, giving such detailed description of the new vehicle as the city clerk may require. Thereafter it shall be permissible, upon payment of the difference between the fee originally paid for the vehicle disposed of and the fee required to be paid for the new license, plus a fee of $1, to issue a new license for the vehicle so designated. (Ord. 636, passed 9-15-70; amend. Ord. 799, passed 12-2-80; amend. Ord. 915, passed 5-15-84)

All revenues derived from the license fees shall be kept as a separate fund out of which shall be paid first the expense of issuing the license and the furnishing of plate, transparent sticker, or other license emblem as hereinafter provided, and then the balance shall be used for the paying of the cost of street and alley improvements and repairs. (Ord. 636, passed 9-15-70)

(A) Upon the issuance of a license, the city clerk shall deliver to the applicant for any license for an automobile, motor truck, motor ambulance, hearse, motor coach, motor bus, or other motor vehicle a transparent sticker license emblem approximately 12 square inches in size. The emblem shall bear the words, “City of Wilmington Vehicle Tax,” the numerals designating the year for which the license is issued, and a number (reproduced in words as well as figures) identical with the number of each license. When the transparent sticker emblem is delivered to any applicant for any license for any of the motor vehicles mentioned in this section it shall be the duty of the applicant to affix the same in the lower right hand corner on the inside of the glass part of the windshield of the motor vehicle approximately one inch from the right and lower sections of the frame of the windshield.
(B) It shall be the duty of the mayor or city clerk to change annually the predominant background color, or shape of the transparent sticker license emblem. The transparent license emblem shall be impervious to weather and incapable of being removed from the windshield without being destroyed. (Ord. 636, passed 9-15-70)

Any person who shall take, destroy, obliterate, or remove any transparent sticker license emblem without the consent of the owner of the vehicle, shall upon conviction be fined not less than $25 nor more than $500. (Ord. 636, passed 9-15-70)

(A) If any manufacturer or dealer in any of the motor vehicles mentioned in this chapter shall make application to the city clerk stating therein that he is a manufacturer operating a plant for the construction of motor vehicles located within the city or a dealer in motor vehicles with a salesroom located within the city and that he desires a license plate or transparent sticker license or emblem to be used by him in testing or demonstrating the motor vehicles upon the streets of the city, and that he will use the license plates or transparent license emblem only for that purpose, the city clerk shall, upon payment by the applicant of the fee hereinafter set forth, issue to the manufacturer or dealer a distinctive license plate or transparent sticker license emblem with a number thereon. The license plate or transparent sticker license emblem must be attached to or borne by any motor vehicle while being operated on the streets of the city for the purpose of testing or demonstrating the vehicle. When any vehicle is in use for such purpose and carries the license plate or transparent sticker license emblem no other license fee shall be collected under this chapter.
(B) License plates and transparent license emblems issued hereunder shall be used only for demonstration purposes and only upon the automotive vehicles used as demonstration cars in the furtherance of the sale of the same. Every manufacturer or dealer in automotive vehicles applying for plates or transparent sticker license emblems must submit satisfactory proof to the city clerk of his status as a manufacturer or dealer. No license plates or transparent sticker license emblems shall be issued hereunder unless the applicant is possessed of a state manufacturer’s or dealer’s license previously issued for the current year.
(C) The total number of demonstrating license or transparent license sticker emblems that may be obtained hereunder shall not exceed the number of sets of manufacturer’s or dealer’s plates issued to the applicant by the state.
(D) It shall be unlawful to use a demonstrating license plate or transparent sticker license emblem in connection with any vehicle except where the vehicle is operated under a manufacturer’s or dealer’s license issued by the state, and has both of the state license plates attached to the vehicle, one on the front and one on the rear thereof.
(E) If any manufacturer or dealer in any motor vehicles mentioned in this chapter shall make application to the city clerk and shall state therein under oath that he is a manufacturer or dealer in the same salesroom within the city, then upon payment of one-half of the license fee heretofore provided, the mayor shall issue or cause to be issued to the manufacturer or dealer a distinctive license plate, transparent sticker, or other license emblem. The manufacturer or dealer may test or demonstrate different successive cars during the year under this license, provided, the different cars so used for demonstration are of the same or less horsepower. (Ord. 636, passed 9-15-70)

Nothing in this chapter shall be deemed to conflict with other ordinances wherein license fees determined in accordance with the size of the business licensed and the number of vehicles employed is used as a determinant of the measure of the size. Nor shall the issuance of licenses under other ordinances be deemed to excuse or be in lieu of the vehicle licenses hereinabove required. (Ord. 636, passed 9-15-70)

Any person, firm or corporation violating any provision in this title, for which another penalty is not provided, shall for a first conviction be fined not less than $25 nor more than $750, for a second conviction within one year thereafter, the person, firm or corporation shall be fined not less than $100 nor more than $750 and for a third or subsequent conviction within one year after the first conviction, the person, firm or corporation shall be fined not less than $250 nor more than $750. A separate offense shall be deemed committed on each day during or which a violation occurs or continues. (Ord. 850, passed 4-6-82; Am. Ord. 1259, passed 8-5-97; Ord. 1574, passed 7-15-03)