All vehicles owned and operated upon the public ways of the city by the United States government or any agency thereof, or by the State of Illinois or any department thereof, or by any political subdivision, public or municipal corporation of the State of Illinois or any department or other agency of such corporation, or by the American Red Cross, all buses owned and operated by churches in conjunction with the authorized activities of said institutions, and all vehicles registered under Section 3-616 of the Motor Vehicle Law of the State of Illinois, shall be exempt from the vehicle tax. Every exempt vehicle, except those vehicles owned by the City of Chicago which are used by said governmental agencies in confidential or undercover investigatory services or by an officer of any of said agencies as his official car, shall have the name of the owner painted in letters at least one and one-half inches in length in a conspicuous place on the outside of each side of the vehicle; provided, that in lieu of such identification every vehicle which is exempt from payment of the state motor vehicle registration fee, shall have a wheel tax license emblem as provided in Section 3-56-070 of this chapter; and every vehicle owned by the United States government or any agency thereof, which is not identified as herein required, shall have such wheel tax license emblem. All wheel tax license emblems for vehicles exempt from payment of the vehicle tax shall be furnished by the city clerk free of charge.
(Prior code § 29-15; Amend Coun. J. 10-26-77, p. 6108; Amend Coun. J. 12-12-07, p. 16793, § 1)