VANCOUVER, Wash. (KOIN) — The City of Vancouver says it’s losing thousands of dollars in revenue because of people who continue living there with out-of-state license plates.

The Vancouver Police Department figures almost 10% of residents there are non-compliant when it comes to state licensing laws. They city figures it loses close to $320,000 a year because of it.

“Initially the project came about with the tab fees, the $20 and $40 tab fees that the city is losing specifically,” Vancouver crime analyst Jaycee Elliott said.

This is the city’s first ever attempt to measure the prevalence of out-of-state vehicles among residents. The study counted more than 17,000 cars in 15 residential neighborhoods and found close to 1,700 or 9.7% have out-of-state plates.

“The initial project came about by anecdotal reports of residents feeling that there were a lot of folks evading their taxes and failing to register their vehicles in the State of Washington,” Elliott said.

KOIN 6 News counted 8-10 out of state license plates, most from Oregon, every quarter to half mile on a drive through one of the neighborhoods listed in the study. If the drivers of those cars also have Oregon driver’s licenses, they may also be using the licenses to avoid paying Washington sales tax.

When the city’s financial office applies the 10% of licence plate non-compliant residents to sales tax collection, the loss adds up to into the millions of dollars.

“….City of Vancouver is losing approximately $4 million a year in sales tax revenue just from the population that kept their out of state license while living in the city,” Vancouver’s interim chief financial officer Natasha Raras said.

The city is cracking down on lawbreakers, asking people to report their non-compliant neighbors and placing flyers on vehicles that appear to be illegal.

“For now it’s gonna be voluntary compliance and we’ll revisit our enforcement options as this continues to unfold and see where we are,” Elliott said.