All those Virginia license plates on Baltimore’s streets cost Maryland millions of dollars, but the state has little authority to do anything about it, according to a recent Motor Vehicle Administration report sent to Gov. Wes Moore’s office.

In June 2024, Virginia officials sent the MVA a list of nearly 107,000 vehicles registered in Virginia but to a primary address in Maryland. That represents a potential revenue loss of between $8 and $12 million in registration fees alone, according to the report.

The MVA matched about 46,000 of those records — about a 10% increase from the prior year — to people in its system whose vehicles previously were registered in Maryland. Roughly 34% of those addresses were in Baltimore City and Baltimore County. The single largest concentration was in Prince George’s County, home to 30% of such vehicles.

Among the statewide total were 5,246 vehicle owners associated with nearly 19,000 MVA account flags for issues like traffic violations, unpaid debts and suspended registrations resulting from failed emissions tests or insurance lapses.

The report comes as Baltimoreans have seen an increase in Virginia license plates adorning cars around Charm City, with drivers flocking south across the Potomac River where registration, emissions and insurance requirements are less expensive.

The state also is counting every penny as it deals with a budget crunch, particularly in the transportation sector, where vehicle registration fees are a primary revenue source.

Effective last July, Virginia lawmakers closed a long-exploited loophole that allowed motorists to legally register their car in the state without auto insurance as long as they paid a one-time fee.

Marylanders have registered their cars in Virginia for decades, seemingly as a way to exploit this loophole. Advertisements for services helping to acquire Virginia license plates have cropped up around Baltimore in recent years, with some even offering delivery.

Maryland requires all residents to register their vehicles with Maryland tags — those who move here from out of state have 60 days to do so. But, Virginia does not. In other words, a Marylander with a Virginia license plate may be violating Maryland law but not Virginia law.

There’s not much Maryland can do about it, either — at least not yet.

One Prince George’s County resident notified the MVA in 2024 that their neighbor had three vehicles with Virginia license plates, according to the report, and the agency issued the violator a citation after they refused to comply with instructions to change their registration. MVA investigators later seized two of the license plates in question alongside law enforcement, the most drastic step they can take.

The person simply got replacement Virginia tags, the report states. The county’s state’s attorney’s office later advised the MVA not to issue the violator additional citations, according to the report. The office did not respond to a request for comment or additional context from The Banner.

Baltimore lawmakers in Annapolis almost succeeded last year in getting a new state law passed that would allow the city to tow and impound such vehicles — such a bill passed the House but stalled in the Senate. A new version is up in the House again this year.

The bill “enhances accountability, ensures fairness for law abiding Maryland drivers and helps stabilize insurance costs,” said Del. Jackie Addison, a Democrat, who introduced it.

“Improperly registered vehicles make it harder to track violations, issue citations and hold reckless drivers accountable,” said Christian McNeill, a legislative liaison for the Baltimore Department of Transportation, testifying in support of the bill alongside a representative of Mayor Brandon Scott. “Many of these vehicles accumulate unpaid tolls or fines or remained illegally parked, taking up residential spaces or becoming abandoned at the city’s expense.”

Seemingly few violators comply of their own accord.

In November 2023, the MVA sent notices out to 33,696 addresses it suspected of having vehicles with Virginia license plates to remind them of the requirements, the report states. Of those, 809, or roughly 2.4%, then switched their registration to Maryland.

Lawmakers could consider granting new powers to the MVA, allowing the agency to deny violators from their driver’s license renewal (it’s possible to have a vehicle registered out-of-state but a Maryland driver’s license), for example, or finding other means of increasing the penalties associated with improper vehicle registration.

But the problem will persist, “as long as the Commonwealth of Virginia registers vehicles without residency requirements,” the report states.

A representative from the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles has not responded to a request for comment.

Meanwhile, the cost of owning a car and paying to insure it here in Maryland is only going up.