Online December & January Registration Renewal Files Re-Upload

Happy New Year! It’s time to upload/re-upload the December and January registration renewal files to reflect the new 2026 state fees. Please read this email in its entirety to avoid any potential upload issues.

For those clients who deferred uploading their January registration renewal files, the files may now be uploaded to Invoice Cloud with no special modifications required to the Monthly Renewal Notices dialog box. To proceed:

  • Navigate to Utilities | DMV Monthly Renewals | Print Notices
  • Rate Override – as long as this date is after 01.01.2026, you should be fine.
  • Select Town and DMV Combined.
    • NOTE: This must also be done for Town Only.
  • Make sure your dialog box looks similar to the screenshot below.
    • NOTE: The Expire By Date may look different depending on your Town’s settings for Invoice Cloud renewal expirations.
  • Select Export.

If you uploaded either your December files alone or both December and January files in December, those files must now be overwritten (re-uploaded) in Invoice Cloud with the updated state fees. To do this:

  • Navigate to Utilities | DMV Monthly Renewals | Print Notices.
  • Rate Override – as long as this date is after 01.01.2026, you should be fine.
  • Select Town and DMV Combined.
    • NOTE: This must also be done for Town Only.
  • Verify that your upload settings are configured as follows:

December files:

January files:

If you need assistance with this, please feel free to give us a call.

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Reminder: Deadline for Online & Mail-In Motor Vehicle Renewals

FINAL REMINDER: All motor vehicle renewals—online, by mail, or over the counter—must be processed through Avitar Clerk no later than December 31, 2025 to be registered at the current 2025 State fees.

Any transactions completed on or after January 1, 2026 will automatically be charged the new State fees.

To support this change, Avitar Clerk version 3.5.7 (emailed November 24) includes the updated fees and will automatically apply them on January 1, 2026. Please be sure this update is installed before December 31, 2025 to ensure accurate fee processing.

Happy Holidays!

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Year End Close Support for December Fiscal Year Municipalities

As we enter the busy season and receive an increased number of calls from Collectors working through their Year End Close, we want to provide some additional resources to help guide you through the process.

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State Fees Increase: What You Need to Know

As you are well aware by now, beginning January 1, 2026, the State is increasing their portion of vehicle registration fees. To ensure a smooth transition, please review the important information/dates and follow the specific instructions outlined below.

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Online/Lockbox Batch Errors: What They Mean and How to Address Them

When processing your online/lockbox batch(es) through Avitar Clerk, there are several situations in which a transaction may fail during the validation process. If a transaction fails validation, it will be marked as ERROR, and you won’t be able to continue until the issue is addressed. But, how do you address the issue?

Begin by reviewing the error detail(s)—click the Edit box to the right of the transaction. After examining the issue, determine whether it can be corrected. Then, update the status to one of the following options: OTC, IGNORED, or CREDIT.

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Clerk Post-It Notes

In a busy municipal office, it’s easy for important tasks, reminders, and follow-ups to slip through the cracks—especially when managing vehicles, owners, payments, and pet records. The Post-It feature in the Avitar Clerk system is designed to help you stay organized and on track.

Whether you need to flag a license plate, VIN, or owner with a note, alert staff to a returned payment deadline, or set a reminder for an upcoming rabies vaccination expiration, Post-Its offer a simple yet powerful solution. Unlike the basic Notes field, Post-Its can be categorized, stacked, and configured to trigger alerts based on specific dates or criteria.

For additional insights into this feature, select each of the following links:

We recommend bookmarking our online documentation page and reviewing it periodically, as it is regularly updated with the latest information.

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2025 MS-1 Report Update — Take Two

Originally we published a blog post indicating that while there were no changes for 2025 to the MS-1 Report file specification, we were nonetheless waiting to receive a list of changes to utility company names for 2025. Then we received the list so we sent those utility company name changes out to all of you in a subsequent blog post. There was just one slight problem — the list we received was incorrect. Fortunately, this was noticed/questioned by a thorough reader who contacted DRA (thanks, Tom!) and DRA notified us on Tuesday that they, rather than a vendor, would provide us with the correct list.

See below for the correct list and a reminder of what this means for you with respect to generating your 2025 MS-1 Report and submitting it to the DRA:

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Lien Deadline is Right Around the Corner

The deadline for liening your prior year invoices is quickly approaching. If you’ve already completed your lien process—congratulations!

If you’re unsure whether any accounts need to be liened, go to Reports | Collection YTD. Review for any outstanding balances on 2024 invoices, including property, timber, current use, gravel, or water/sewer. If any balances remain, be sure to create lien notices before the end of August.

For a complete overview of the process, refer to our post from July 30, 2024 on the same topic: Lien Execution Deadline Approaching. It includes RSAs, important deadlines, and step-by-step instructions to guide you through the process.

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2025 MS-1 Report Update

As we noted recently, there are no changes for 2025 to the MS-1 Report file specification. See below for what this means for you with respect to generating your 2025 MS-1 Report and submitting it to the DRA:

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2025 MS-1 Report and Mosaic Exports

That time of year again, and as in recent years the DRA has made no changes to the MS-1 Report file specification for 2025. That said, we are still waiting to hear back from the folks in charge whether there will be any changes to the list of approved utility companies. Additionally, there have been a few changes to the format and process for submitting your Mosaic Parcel and Sales export files. So at the risk of sounding slightly <like a broken record> repetitive, here’s what this all means for you going forward:

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