There was even more good news on Wednesday for vehicle owners across the state who face higher registration and vehicle weight taxes in the next few weeks.

Dennis Kamimura, Honolulu’s licensing administrator, told the Star-Advertiser on Tuesday that the higher rates would go into effect beginning Monday for registrations that expire Oct. 1 or later.

But Kamimura corrected himself Wednesday and said the higher rates actually won’t be collected for another five weeks because the new rates apply only to registrations that expire on Oct. 31 or later — not Oct. 1.

Kamimura apologized for the error. But it means drivers who would have paid the higher rates next week will get a reprieve — at least for one more year.

Kamimura could not immediately provide a breakdown of how many vehicle owners on all islands will enjoy the current rates before the higher rates go into effect.

The city plans to mail expiration date renewal forms to vehicle owners on or about Sept. 16 and 17 for registrations that expire Oct. 31 or later, said Louise Kim McCoy, spokeswoman for Mayor Peter Carlisle.

"These renewals will contain the increased state weight tax and registration fee, which we will begin collecting ONLY for those with October renewals," Kim McCoy said in a statement. "Beginning Nov. 1, we will begin collecting the new rates for ALL transactions, regardless if a person’s renewal deadline was before or after Oct. 31."

Gov. Neil Abercrombie signed a bill into law in May that increased the annual vehicle registration fee to $45 from $25 and increased the state weight tax for all vehicles — effective July 1.

But the city Department of Information Technology, which runs the vehicle registration system for all counties, needed time to reprogram its computers to accommodate the additional fees, Kamimura said.

The extra revenue is intended to increase the state Department of Transportation’s maintenance and highway fund on all islands.

Some Oahu drivers renewing their vehicle registrations this year already might have noticed they paid more this year than last year. That’s because the City and County of Honolulu increased its separate, county vehicle weight tax to 5 cents per pound from 4 cents per pound on Jan. 1.

The result was that owners of vehicles weighing 4,000 pounds now pay the city $40 more than last year for their county vehicle weight tax, which is separate from the new, higher vehicle weight tax going to the state highway fund.