Renewing your vehicle registration is an annual event that generally requires getting in line at the town office to pay the municipal excise tax, and then for some getting in line again at the Bureau of Motor Vehicles to pay the registration fee.

Have you ever wondered if there is an easier way? 

Now there is--with Rapid Renewal, a new online service unveiled today by Secretary of State Dan A. Gwadosky.  Instead of getting in line, you can get online to renew your vehicle registration.  Just point and click, and in a few easy steps you can pay your municipal excise tax and registration fee from your home, office or any other convenient location with Internet access.

"Rapid Renewal is a groundbreaking Internet service that moves Maine closer to the concept of
e-government.  For the first time Maine citizens will be able to conduct business online with municipal and state government in one seamless transaction," stated Secretary Gwadosky.  "This is one of the first municipal and state government partnerships in the country to provide integrated e-commerce services online," Secretary Gwadosky continued.  "We know this will open the door for other agencies to provide more convenient online services to Maine citizens."

The Rapid Renewal program is sponsored by Secretary of State Dan A. Gwadosky and was developed cooperatively by his department, InforME, the Information Resource of Maine and the ten pilot municipalities.  Rapid Renewal may be accessed through the participating municipalities’ web sites or on www.sosonline.org, the Department of the Secretary of State's site for online services. 

The ten municipalities in this pilot project are Bangor, Brunswick, China, Corinna, Hermon, Holden, Lewiston, Portland, Saco, and Waterville.  Each one participated in the design and implementation of Rapid Renewal.

Rapid Renewal was established as a pilot project with a limited number of municipalities in various locations and of varying populations in order to facilitate the development of the on-line service.  Once the pilot project is completed, any municipalities interested in providing this convenient service to their citizens will be added to the program.  Participation by municipalities in Rapid Renewal is voluntary.