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