New license plates promote parks, God
Kayla Wamsley
Capital News Service
Want to show your support for the James River Park System? Or tell other people “Don’t Tread on Me”?
You’ll soon be able to do that on your license plate.
The General Assembly recently authorized six new special license plates for Virginia motorists:
• “Don’t Tread on Me,” the slogan of the tea party movement
• “In God We Trust,” the national motto
• A plate to raise money for Friends of the James River Park
• A similar plate to support the Blue Ridge Parkway
• A plate celebrating the centennial of Fort Belvoir
• A plate marking the bicentennial of the American War of 1812
Those plates will be added to the list of more than 200 special license plates available from the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles.
“All special plates must be introduced by a legislator and approved by the General Assembly,” said Melanie Stokes, the public relations and media manager for the DMV.
Before the DMV creates a special license plate, it must receive 350 or more prepaid applications. (Under a new state law, that minimum order will rise to 450 for future plates.)
Virginia has two kinds of special license plates: revenue-sharing plates, in which a nonprofit group shares in the proceeds, and non-revenue-sharing plates, such as “In God We Trust” and “Don’t Tread on Me.”
According to the DMV website, non-revenue-sharing plates normally have an annual fee of $10, and revenue-sharing plates cost $25 dollars.
After the sale of 1,000 plates, the DMV shares $15 of the $25 fee with the organization affiliated with a revenue-sharing special plate. So the plates generate income for groups such as Friends of the James River Park. Motorists who buy such plates can get a charitable tax deduction of up to $15.
