Texas Residency

[2psnapod1]

Texas law requires a State safety inspection if your vehicle is registered in Texas. Period.

Not a problem - we plan on getting the safety inspections done on both vehicles.

 

[Lou_and_Bette]

Kelly, Bette and I just transferred residency from MS to TX. You have gotten alot of usful info. We use Escapees as home address and tax/DL personnel very familiar/simpatico with RV'rs in Polk county. If you want to get TX DL you will need to get vehicle/s registered first, inspection of all vehicles done...no emissions test on diesel truck and I believe Harley and RV were each $15 for inspection. If both your names are on title for truck/other motor vehicles, you need to both go to the DL place togther. If rig and truck combined weight over 26,000 pounds, need to take written CDL test (easy) and actual driving test which is not real hard but you have to pass written first to schedule driving test and there was a wait of at least 2 weeks in Livingston...longer other places and test may be harder. They determined my weights by having me bring a picture of GVWR tag on front of RV (mine 18k) and when I registered truck gave then basic dry weight (lot less than actual) and then they added carry weight (in your case 1 ton...2000 lbs) to this weight so, in my case I was 28,600.
There is a ?? $90/95 transfer fee when coming from other state so in my case $270/285 to transfer 3 vehicles and still my total cost of registration was only $650...much less than just the registration on the RV in Miss for 1 year $1400

Lou

 

[2psnapod1]

Hey Lou! Thanks so much for all the information. I thought we were pretty much set on using Texas as our state of residency but Michael is now looking into South Dakota so we'll be doing some more research before we make a final decision.

 

[ZNK]

Why not register in WA? Fees are very cheap here. And no state income tax. Registration for our TT was fairly cheap. Just an idea.

 

[artsbighorn]

South Dakota is cheaper all the way around & NO inspection's needed.

 

[msgtray]

You may want to check with the county that you are going to set up residency in as they all are different. regarding the fees for the vehicle and coach. we live in Comal and they are different than Bexar (San Antonio)

 

[lmcclure]

Our Rig was $18.00, Truck was 28.00 No inspection in Rhea County. No state Tax. This is in Tennessee.

 

[2psnapod1]

Just a side note - another reason for us to register in Texas or South Dakota (or Florida) is that those states (along with registration fees etc) do not tax military retirement checks. Most other states do...we have a book 'Choosing Your RV Home Base' that was able to breakdown all the information into an easy to read format. According to it...for our situation the best states to choose would be those 3 I listed above.

 

[pegmikef]

Yep, as soon as I got stationed in Texas I changed my residency. NO state income tax and that is on all income, not just your military retired pay!

 

[SouthernNights]

Here is a somewhat related to a thread on RV.NET talking about voting. Apparently the OP is being denied voting rights in Escambia county FL because he is using a mail forwarding service for his address.
http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/26218702.cfm

I thought I remember something in the Escapees website stating that you can vote using their Texas address.

 

[2psnapod2]

Wow, Larry that is not good info. I will definitely have to look into this more. As I do plan to exercise my rights to vote.

 

[jmgratz]

As an Escapee member using their mail forwarding service with the Texas address you are considered a resident of Polk County, Texas and have voting rights in Polk County, Texas. This was address and confirmed by the Texas courts. Don't know about other states and their residencies. So if you are an Escapee member with their mail forwarding Texas address service you can vote their (absentee). Keep in mind this also means you may be summoned for jury duty in Polk County Texas as well but Polk County has (so far) been considerate if you are summoned for jury duty and not available due to travel by notifying them and setting it up to report for your jury duty at a later date. For questions about this contact Escapees.

 

[SouthernNights]

Here is a link you might find helpful from the Escapees website.



Texas Voting Information

• Early Voting Application
  To be eligible to vote early by mail in Texas, you must:
  
• be 65 years or older;
• be disabled;
• be out of the county on election day and during the period for early voting by personal appearance; or
• be confined in jail, but otherwise eligible.

To request an Early Voting application from the Secretary of State website.
Go to www.sos.state.tx.us/elections/voter/reqabbm.shtml and enter your mailing address.
An aAn application will be mailed to you directly. This will save the step of requesting an application by mail from the early voting clerk in your county!
Texas Voter Information for Escapees
Helpful Web Sites
These web links can be used to research information on candidates and issues relating to the upcoming election.
www.sos.state.tx.us/ - Texas Secretary of State
Online Guide to Texas Politics
www.lwvtexas.org - League of Women Voters
www.vote-smart.org - Project Vote Smart
Texas Democratic Party Website
Texas Green Party Website
Texas Libertarian Party Website
Texas Republican Party Website

Local resources
EastTexasNews.com
Polk County Democratic Party Website (no site at this time)
Polk County Libertarian Party Website (no site at this time)
Polk County Republican Party Website

 

[TandT]

I was raised in Texas (12 years) and have many great friends there, but you do know there are 25 Million people there, right?

After spending an additional 50+ years in the L.A. area, I like to get away from crowds. Trace

 

[2psnapod1]

I was raised in Texas (12 years) and have many great friends there, but you do know ther are 25 Million people there, right?

After spending an additional 50+ years in the L.A. area, I like to get away from crowds. Trace

Michael, too, was raised in TX (10 or so years) - but keep in mind our 'home' will be wherever we park it! We just need a 'legal' residence. Our youngest son lives in NY (Long Island) you'll notice we are NOT contemplating making that crazy place our state of residence!

 

[dave10a]

A lot of good advise is given. I would also check insurance rates. I was going to register in Florida rather than Connecticut because of the extremely high taxes and fees difference. However, the insurance rates in Florida made me choose between giving money to the State or the Insurance company. I chose to register in Connecticut because my permanent home is in Connecticut, for the time being, and I did not want to worry about legalities. Especially since many state are cracking down on people who register out of state. One friend who registered in Montana got fined heavily by the state for trying to beat the high taxes (legalized larceny )