While Texas dwarfs Ohio’s number of registered vehicles — 21.5 million to 7.6 million — there are more Ohioans driving with vanity plates than Texans — 360,000 or 4.8 percent of motorists compared to 320,000 or 1.5 percent.
On Sept. 22, Texas and its partner, My Plates, will auction off 30 vanity plates that motorists can keep up to 25 years.
Since sales began in November, Texans have bought more than 15,000 vanity plates for about $3.5 million, with $1.5 million going straight to the general revenue fund, said Kim Sue Lia Perkes, a spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles.
“My Plates is about making money; that’s why we did it,” said Kim Miller Drummond, a spokeswoman for My Plates based in Nacogdoches, Texas.
Ohio not considering auctioning plates
Ohio has never considered auctioning off vanity plates, said Amanda Wurst, press secretary for Gov. Ted Strickland.
In Ohio and most other states, the Bureau of Motor Vehicles handles selling vanity plates. The plates, which costs $50 compared to $11.50 for a standard one, cannot be sold between individuals and must be either renewed or returned to the state, said Lindsey Bohrer, an Ohio BMV spokeswoman.
Although Texas is the first state to hire an outside company to handle the marketing and sale of personalized plates, other states, such as Delaware and Massachusetts, allow limited auctioning and sale of plates.
Delaware allows license plates to be sold between individuals as long as the transfers happen at a Department of Motor Vehicles location, said Mike Williams, a spokesman for Delaware Department of Transportation.
Because Delaware’s license plates consist solely of number combinations, the lower numbers sell for a lot of money. Williams said the record price for a low number, 6, was $675,000, which went directly to the owner.
“The low-digit numbers are a badge of recognition for citizens,” Williams said.
Massachusetts allows limited plate auctioning to support local charities. Plates numbered 1 to 99 can be auctioned, but the state is not involved, said Anne Dufresne, a spokeswoman for the Massachusetts Registry for Motor Vehicles. Charities must create a plate design and get it approved.
Once approved, the plate design must solicit 1,500 pre-paid registrations, post bond and then get an additional 1,500 registrations over a two-year period, Dufresne said.
Neighboring states’ policies
In Pennsylvania, of its 7.8 million registered passenger vehicles, about 270,000, or 3.5 percent, have personalized plates, said Danielle Klinger, a spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.
It is against Pennsylvania law to sell a registration card, plate or permit to another individual unless authorized to do so by the state, she added.
In Kentucky, there are 3.6 million registered passenger vehicles, but only 1 percent, or 38,000 of them have personalized plates, said Ryan Watts, a spokesman for the Kentucky Department of Transportation.
In Indiana, vanity apparently is not in vogue. Of the 6.5 million registered vehicles, only 41,000, or less than 1 percent, have personalized plates, said Graig Lubsen, a spokesman for the Indiana Department of Transportation.
Neither Kentucky nor Indiana have considered allowing state-issued personalized plates to be put up for auction.
Mississippi toyed with auctioning off personalized plates 10 years ago for NASCAR, said Kathy Waterbury, spokeswoman for the Mississippi State Tax Commission. She said the state held an auction for charity with no benefit to the state for certain numbers related to NASCAR.
“Only two people showed up for the auction,” Waterbury said. “We will not do it again.”
Texas and My Plates are excited about the first-ever license plate auction at Dallas’ Cowboys Stadium. Drummond said they will auction off Texas’ first-ever seven-character license plates. She said the most popular combination will be “Cowboys,” “Rangers,” “Porsche,” “Ferrari,” and “GoHorns.”
Other states have called inquiring about My Plates’ services for their state, Drummond said. But My Plates is focusing on Texas before they turn their attention to another state.
“(Auctioning off license plates) is exciting,” she said. “It opens up a whole new world. We’re selling freedom.”
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