Driver’s License
All new residents who plan to drive must obtain an N.C. driver’s license within 60 days of establishing a permanent residence here. Most newcomers, unless they drive commercial vehicles, will want a Class C license, which permits operation of personal cars and small trucks. If you drive a motorcycle, you’ll also need a motorcycle endorsement. Licensed drivers who are 16 or 17 years old must present proof of completion of a state-approved driver education course in their former state; otherwise, they receive a temporary license pending completion of the course here.

N.C. driver’s licenses are good for five years. To get a license, apply in person at a driver’s license office and take the vision, sign recognition and written tests. (It’ll help to study the “Driver’s Handbook,” available at DMV offices or check the website below.) Tests are available in seven languages - English, Korean, Chinese, Vietnamese, Spanish, French and Arabic.

When you apply, present your current out-of-state license or two other accepted forms of ID, as well as proof of liability insurance (for example, the original policy, original binder or Form DL-123 from your insurance agent) from an insurer licensed in North Carolina. You’ll also need to supply your Social Security number.

The cost of a license will vary depending on how many years the license is good for. A class C license costs $2.50 per year. You must pass a road skills test on your motorcycle to receive it.

For more information on N.C. driver’s license and motor vehicle registration rules, call DMV Direct Access at (919) 715-7000. You can access recorded information 24 hours a day using a touch-tone telephone and following the prompts. Or check the DMV Web site (www.dmv.dot.state.nc.us).

North Carolina
6407 Idlewild Rd.,
Charlotte 704-531-5563

3704 Central Ave. Suite 1,
Charlotte 704-392-3266

8446 N. Tryon St.,
Charlotte 704-547-5786

201-A W. Arrowood Rd.,
Charlotte 704-527-2562

6016 Brookshire Blvd.,
Charlotte 704-392-3266

2192 Kannapolis Hwy.,
Concord 704-782-7214

905 Carolina Ave. North,
Statesville 704-878-4220

125 N. Main St.,
Mooresville 704-664-3344

3122 U.S. 74 West,
Monroe 704-283-4264

2560 W. Franklin Ave.,
Gastonia 704-853-5372

785 W. Charlotte Ave. Unit 2,
Mount Holly 704-827-9486

South Carolina
305 Hands Mill Rd.,
Rock Hill 803-329-6332

1070 Heckle Blvd. Suite 100,
Rock Hill 803-909-7161

Newcomers who plan to operate motor vehicles must obtain an S.C. driver’s license within 90 days of becoming a permanent resident. Most newcomers, unless they drive commercial vehicles, will need a class D license, which allows the operation of passenger cars and small trucks.

If you hold a commercial license, you must obtain an S.C. commercial license within 30 days. If you operate a motorcycle, you’ll also need a motorcycle endorsement. Additionally, newcomers who operate motorcycles or mopeds exclusively may obtain licenses covering only those vehicles. A restricted license allows residents 15 years old to drive alone during daylight hours or at night under adult supervision until they reach the age of 16.

To obtain a license, apply in person at a license office and take the vision, sign recognition and knowledge tests. It may be helpful to study the South Carolina Driver’s Manual, which can be obtained at any license office listed above. If you have a current license from your former residence, you will have to surrender it. If you do not have a license from your former residence, you will need a birth certificate or two other forms of identification. The license fee is $12.50. Your S.C. license will expire on your birthday five years after the license was issued.

For more information, call the Motor Vehicle Services Division of the state Department of Public Safety’s toll-free line, 800-442-1368, or check the Web sitet at http://www.scdps./org.

Motor Vehicle Registration
You must register your vehicle before the reciprocity agreement between North Carolina and your former state expires (usually 30 days). Registration is renewed annually.

To register your vehicle, apply in person at a license plate agency and present your title (unless title is held by a lienholder) and a valid registration card from your former state. If your title is held by a lienholder, you must provide the lienholder’s name and address on a state form for title release. You also must present proof of vehicle liability insurance at or above minimum standards (see driver’s license information for the list of acceptable documents).

Fees due when you receive N.C. registration include title fee, $35; registration fee, $20; and highway use tax, which is 3 percent of the value of your vehicle. DMV registration offices accept checks.
You also must get a vehicle safety inspection within 10 days of receiving your N.C. license plate. This costs $9.25 and can be done at any state-authorized inspection station. Inspection is required annually. Some counties also require an emissions inspection, which is conducted at the same time as the safety inspection and costs $30.

Although the state does not levy sales tax on motor vehicles, N.C. counties assess property taxes annually. Your car will be registered when you receive your license plate, and you’ll receive a bill in about three months.

North Carolina
6016 Brookshire Blvd.,
Charlotte 704-399-8306

6058 E. Independence Blvd.,
Charlotte 704-535-2525

4200-H South Blvd.,
Charlotte 704-525-3832

759 Church St. N.,
Concord 704-788-1404

4612 Hwy. 49 S.,
Harrisburg 704-455-9517

121 W. Water St.,
Statesville 704-873-3185

1509 Dale Earnhardt Blvd.,
Kannapolis 704-932-3146

125-3 N. Main St.,
Mooresville 704-663-5472

622-E W. Roosevelt Blvd.,
Monroe 704-283-4113

401 Cox Rd.,
Gastonia 704-864-4856

South Carolina
You can register your motor vehicles at any of the driver’s license offices listed in the Driver’s License section.

You must register your car or truck within 45 days of moving to South Carolina. To obtain a license plate, you will need your vehicle’s title or current registration and proof that you have liability insurance.
Additionally, you will have to pay the property taxes on your vehicle and furnish the registration office with a receipt issued by the tax office in the county where you live. After this initial registration, the county auditor will mail you a tax notice each year about a month before your registration expires.

The registration fee is $24 ($20 if you are 65 or older). The fee covers two years, but validation stickers for your license plate must be obtained each year.

South Carolina has no mandatory annual vehicle safety inspection law. However, the state still has minimum standards for safety-related equipment, such as tires, lights and glazing, and these standards are enforced by state troopers.

Rules of the Road
North Carolina
Speed limits range from 55 mph to 70 mph on interstates and from 55 mph to 65 mph on open highways; the limit is 35 mph inside municipal corporate limits unless otherwise posted.
ß Motorcyclists must wear helmets and drive with lights on at all times.

Seat belt use is mandatory for driver and front-seat passengers. Approved child-restraint seats are required for children 4 years and younger; all children 16 and younger must be buckled up no matter where they sit in the vehicle.

Right turn on red is permitted after complete stop unless otherwise posted. Left turn on red is not permitted.

Drunken-driving rules are strict. A motorist is guilty of driving while impaired (DWI) if his blood alcohol level meets or exceeds 0.08 percent or if he is under the influence of or affected by alcohol and/or other drugs. Penalties can include fines, imprisonment and license revocation. The best rule: Don’t drink and drive.

South Carolina
Speed limits are 55 mph on interstate highways, though many stretches of interstate in South Carolina are posted at 65 mph or 60 mph. The maximum speed limit on other rural highways is 55 mph, and the highest unposted limit in urban areas is 30 mph. However, many streets and highways in urban areas are posted for both higher and lower speeds. Always check speed limit signs when you drive.

All front-seat passengers must wear seat belts. In the rear seat, passengers up to 4 years old must be restrained by a lap belt or approved safety seat. An approved safety seat is required for children under 1 year of age regardless of the child’s position in the vehicle and for children between 1 and 5 who are riding in the front seat.

Motorcyclists and motorcycle passengers under 21 must wear approved safety helmets and either goggles or face shields attached to their helmets. Motorcyclists must burn their headlights at all times when on public streets or highways. Motorcycles with 5 horsepower or less are not allowed on interstate highways.

Driving under the influence of alcohol or other drugs can result in prison time, heavy fines, suspended driver’s licenses and much higher insurance rates. South Carolina has an implied consent law, meaning that by driving on public streets and highways, you give your permission for law enforcement officers to administer tests for intoxication. You will be considered intoxicated if your blood alcohol level is 0.10 percent or higher. If you drink, don’t drive.

Voter Registration
To be eligible to vote in either North Carolina or South Carolina, you must be 18 or older, a U.S. citizen, a legal resident of the state and county where you register, and a resident of your precinct for at least 30 days prior to the election you wish to vote in.

To register to vote, pick up a registration form, fill it out completely and mail it to the address on the form.
Your registration card will be mailed to you. Forms are available at individual county offices. The North Carolina State Board of Elections numbers is 919-733-7173.

The Web site for the N.C. Board of Elections is http://www.sboe.state.nc.us/. In South Carolina, you can obtain a form online at www.state.sc.us/scsec.

North Carolina
Mecklenburg County Board of Elections
741 Kenilworth Ave. Suite 202, Charlotte
704-336-2133

Cabarrus County Board of Elections
53 Corban Ave. SE, Concord
704-920-2860

Iredell County Elections Office
233 Stockton St. B-1, Statesville
704-878-3140

Union County Board of Elections
316-E East Windsor St., Monroe
704-283-3809

Gaston County Board of Elections
810 W. Mauney Ave., Gastonia
704-864-4852

All DMV offices, libraries and high schools.

South Carolina
E.C. Black Building
13 S. Congress St., York, SC
803-684-1242.

All public libraries.

Most post offices.

Many government social service offices.

All driver’s license bureaus. (Note: Forms are available here only to people who also have DMV business to conduct.)

Online at www.state.sc.us/scsec.

Property Taxes
Rates for fiscal 2003-04 (ended June 30, 2004). All rates per $100 assessed valuation.

North Carolina
Mecklenburg County - $0.7364
Cabarrus County - $0.56
Gaston County - $0.893
Iredell County - $0.435
Union County - $0.53
Belmont - $0.46
Charlotte - $0.42
Concord - $0.45
Cornelius - $0.26
Cramerton - $0.425
Davidson - $0.325
Gastonia - $0.530
Harrisburg - $0.135
Huntersville - $0.280
Indian Trail - $0.08
Lowell - $0.34
Marvin - $0.0517
Matthews - $0.295
Mint Hill - $0.275
Monroe - $0.50
Mooresville - $0.45
Mount Holly - $0.45
Pineville- $0.30
Stallings - $0.16
Statesville - $0.38
Waxhaw - $0.37
Weddington - $0.04

South Carolina
York County - 0.09
Rock Hill - 0.3525
Fort Mill - 0.3440
Clover - 0.3395
Tega Cay - 0.3590

Rates are established in May or June of each year in conjunction with annual budget preparation. Depending on where you live, you may owe taxes to a combination of governments - for example, both Mecklenburg County and the city where you live. The list above doesn’t include some extra taxes and fees you may have to pay, such as fire districts, special development districts and solid-waste fees. So your total tax rate may be higher than the figures listed above.

Local property taxes are assessed annually on real property, including homes, cars and boats. Bills for homes, land and the like are mailed in September and payable without penalty by the date specified in early January. Cars are handled differently. The state generates a list of motorists who receive motor vehicle licenses and forwards that information to the county, which generates property tax bills on the vehicles a few weeks later. Those bills are due just a few weeks after receipt.

For further tax information, call the tax office in your county: Mecklenburg, 704-336-4600; Cabarrus, 704-920-2166; Iredell, 704-878-3000; Union, 704-283-3746; Gaston, 704-866-3158; York, 803-684-8526.

Area Code Overlay
Due to incredible growth in the number of telephone lines, the Charlotte area has been assigned a second area code, 980. The area code overlays, or exactly matches, the existing 704 area code. The two area codes mean that you must dial the entire 10-digit number - that is, area code 704 or 980, plus the seven-digit phone number - in order to reach a Charlotte-area number.

For details, check Bell South’s Web site (www.bellsouth.com/areacode) or call toll-free 800-964-7941.

Government Information
Charlotte-Mecklenburg 704-336-7600
http://www.charmeck.org/

Cornelius
704-892-6031
www.cornelius.org

Davidson
704-892-7591
http://www.ci.davidson.nc.us/

Huntersville
704-875-6541
http://www.huntersville.org/

Matthews
704-847-4411
http://www.matthewsnc.com/

Mint Hill
704-545-9726
http://www.minthill.com/

Pineville
704-889-2291
www.pinevillenc.net

Cabarrus County
704-920-2100
www.co.cabarrus.nc.us

Concord
704-920-5555
www.concord.nc.us

Harrisburg
704-455-5614
http://www.harrisburg.nc.us/

Gaston County
704-866-3100
www.co.gaston.nc.us

Belmont
704-825-5586
www.ci.belmont.nc.us

Gastonia
704-866-6719
www.cityofgastonia.com

Mount Holly
704-827-3931
www.ci.mount-holly.nc.us

Iredell County
704-878-3000
http://www.co.iredell.nc.us/

Mooresville
704-663-3800
http://www.ci.mooresville.nc.us/

Union County
704-283-3810
www.co.union.nc.us

Indian Trail
704-821-8114
http://www.indiantrail.org/

Lake Park
704-882-8657
http://www.lakeparknc.com/

Marvin
704-843-1680
http://www.marvinnc.org/

Monroe
704-282-4501
http://www.monroenc.org/

Stallings
704-821-8557
http://www.stallingsnc.org/

Waxhaw
704-843-2195
http://www.waxhaw.com/

Weddington
704-846-2709

York County
803-684-8564
http://www.yorkcountygov.com/

Rock Hill
803-329-7000
www.cityofrockhill.com

Fort Mill
803-547-2034
www.fortmillsc.org

Tega Cay
803-548-3512
http://www.tegacaysc.org/

Clover
803-222-9495
http://www.cloversc.info/