Vehicle Registration
Vehicle registration begins with paying an annual excise tax at your Town office. To pay excise tax in the City of Calais, please visit the Revenue Collector at the Calais City Building, located at 11 Church St. Most renewals, and some new registrations, can be processed by the City of Calais, without the need to also go to the Bureau of Motor Vehicles.
Please note that we can only collect excise tax and process registrations for citizens that live in the City of Calais.
The cost to register your vehicle includes two parts: the excise tax and a registration fee set by the State of Maine. Excise tax is based on your vehicle's MSRP (Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price) when it was new and it's current age. Registration fees depend on the type and weight of your vehicle. There may also be an additional fee if you have a specialty or vanity license plate.
Because these factors vary, the total cost will be different for each vehicle. For an accurate cost, please contact the Revenue Collector at (207) 454-2521, extension 1005, or via email at revenuecollector@calaismaine.org.
New Registrations - first time the vehicle is being registered by you
- Bill of sale (must include Year, Make, Model, VIN, purchase price and buyer's name)
- Title application or previous title signed over to the buyer by the seller
- Proof of insurance (MUST be valid on the date of registration)
- Current mileage on the vehicle
Renewal Registrations - vehicle has been previously registered in Maine by you
- Current mileage on the vehicle
- Proof of insurance (MUST be valid on the date of registration)
- Previous registration (if most recent registration was processed in any other municipality)
Maybe. If you disposed of a vehicle that still had a valid registration, you may be able to transfer the registration from the old vehicle to a new one depending on the amount of time left before expiration.
Example: In August 2025, you renewed your vehicle registration, paying $200 for excise tax. In March 2026, you trade in the old vehicle and get a new one. The excise tax on the new vehicle is $800.
Under this example, since there is still 5 months (April - August) remaining on the registration for the old vehicle, you could choose to transfer it to the new vehicle. Instead of paying excise tax of $800, you would only pay excise tax of $600 ($800 - $200). The $200 that you paid in August 2025 gets applied (credited) against the excise tax for the new vehicle.
However, the expiration date of the registration does not change. In the example above, you would need to register your vehicle again in August 2026.
The Revenue Collector can run a transfer analysis to see if it is more cost effective to transfer the registration or to do a new one.
Maybe. The City of Calais participates in Rapid Renewal, an online service for registering your vehicle. Only vehicles that are registered in Calais may be renewed using this service. New, or transfer, registrations must be done in our office. For a complete list of who can use the service, please visit the Rapid Renewal website.
Click here to visit the Rapid Renewal website.
There is a fee charged to use Rapid Renewal. This fee is not collected or received by the City of Calais.
No. The City of Calais does not send reminders when it is time to renew a vehicle registration. However, you can sign up through Rapid Renewal to receive an email reminder a month before your registration expires. There is no charge for this service and you can request a reminder for each vehicle you own.
Voting
In person voting on the day of election is located at the Calais Rec Dept (11 Academy Street). Polls are open from 8 am to 8 pm. A parking lot and access to the handicap entrance are located off of Lincoln Street.
Absentee voting takes place at the Calais City Building (11 Church Street) during the open absentee voting period. Requests for an absentee ballot may be made in person or via the State of Maine website.