Stepping Up To The Plates

By Lisa Hurt Kozarovich
THE EVENING NEWS AND THE TRIBUNE (JEFFERSONVILLE, Ind.)

JEFFERSONVILLE, Ind. March 31, 2008 08:41 am

— Indiana residents have had a lot of problems lately — the state is leading in foreclosures, unemployment rates are high, the number of single-parent families continues to rise.
But at least Hoosiers aren’t vain, according to a recent national survey that ranked Indiana 49th in the number of states’ drivers with vanity plates.
The 2007 survey by the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators found that about 48,000 drivers, out of the 4.9 million registered in the state, have vanity plates. That’s less than 1 percent.
Virginia’s lovers led the list, with nearly 17 percent of drivers sporting the personalized license plates, far ahead of the national average of 3.8 percent.
Of course the real issue isn’t vanity, it’s the amount of revenue the $48 plates brings in to state coffers — usually $1 million to $2 million a year in Indiana. Virginia gets about $7 million annually thanks to its vanity.
In Indiana, residents pay $48, plus normal registration fees, for a personalized plate. Here’s how that fee breaks down, according to Julie Fletcher, spokesperson for the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles: $37 goes to the BMV, $4 to the Crossroads 2000 fund and $7 to the Motor Vehicle Highway Account.
Crossroads 2000 was created to fund state highway projects. About $50 million from the fund will go toward the Ohio River Bridges project.
The Motor Vehicle Highway Account is a state fund earmarked for traffic safety, the construction, improvement and maintenance, and policing of state highways. About 15 percent of the funds go to local governments for things such as snow removal and cleaning grade crossings.
It wasn’t contributing to the state coffers that inspired Lanesville’s Harold Scott to pay for a personalized plate. The 65-year-old, who purchased a plate for his wife’s truck that reads “HER F150,” said he just “wanted to be different.”
Jeffersonville’s Don Gagel got the idea for the personalized plate on his 1948 Chevy Coupe from his wife.
“Every time somebody called, she’d say, ‘he’s out in the garage working on his toy,’” he said. Drivers all around the area recognize Gagel’s car, and the plate it sports: “HIS TOY.”
Besides the vanity plates, Indiana drivers can choose from more than 75 other specialty plates, whether just to be different or to support a cause.
The BMV’s specialty plates program, created in 1977, allows motorists to support various organizations, ranging from those representing universities and military groups to environmental and health issues.
Under the program, the organization sets the fee it will collect, and the state tacks on $15 for administrative costs. Almost all of the groups collect $25 per plate, though a few only charge $5 or $10.
One of the most successful plates has been the Indiana Heritage Trust’s environmental plate, which has collected more than $25 million in the 15 years the plate has been available.
Part of those funds are being used to pay for the extension of the Knobstone Trail, which stretches into Clark County, while other monies will go to buy additional acreage for Brown County State Park, according to the state Department of Natural Resources.
Another moneymaker has been the Indiana University plate, which has brought the university about $1 million — some of which has gone to fund scholarships. As of May, 37,000 IU plates had been issued, according to the university.
Even drivers who’d rather keep their cash and take the standard plate have options. They can choose either the regular plate, which has a blue background and a stars and torch emblem on the side or the In God We Trust plate, with an American Flag flying in the background.
In the first six months the In God We Trust plates were available, more than a half million were issued.
The plate became the subject of a lawsuit filed on behalf of clients represented by the American Civil Liberties Union in 2007. The suit claims the plates violate the Constitutional separation of church and state and that preferential treatment is given to those who choose the plate over other organization’s plates because they don’t have to pay the $15 administrative fee.
Had the state charged the $15 fee, which funds state highway projects and road maintenance, it would have raised $7.5 million for the state’s coffers in just six months.

Lisa Hurt Kozarovich writes for The Evening News in Jeffersonville, Ind.

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