FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, March 18, 2020
Contact: Kristen Schulze Muszynski
207-626-8404

Town of Castine now offering Rapid Renewal Service 

Residents can now renew vehicle registrations online

AUGUSTA — Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap has announced that the Town of Castine has launched Rapid Renewal, the Department of the Secretary of State’s online service for the renewal of motor vehicle registrations.

Rapid Renewal is an e-commerce service allowing citizens to conduct business with municipal government and state government in one seamless online transaction. Rapid Renewal has gained national acclaim and Mainers have enthusiastically embraced it. While municipal participation in Rapid Renewal is optional, the service has now grown to 262 municipalities and has seen more than 1,904,185 transactions processed to date. The Town of Castine will accept payments via e-check and credit card. Residents can continue to visit the town office to pay in person, but now also have the option of conducting these transactions online.

This option will be particularly convenient for all participating municipalities, during the current emergency closure of the Bureau of Motor Vehicles.

The Rapid Renewal service is currently offered by cities and towns from York County to Aroostook County, with populations ranging from Glenwood Plantation’s three citizens to more than 64,000 in Portland. Through Rapid Renewal, citizens can quickly and easily renew their vehicle registrations and pay their municipal excise taxes online, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Rapid Renewal may be accessed through https://www.maine.gov/sos/online_services/index.html , the Secretary of State’s site for online services.

Municipal officials who would like more information about participating in Rapid Renewal are encouraged to contact the Department of the Secretary of State at 626-8400 or by email at sos.office@maine.gov.