CATSKILL — Although a plan for New York State to raise $130 million in vehicle registration fees by switching to a blue-and-gold license plate was abandoned in late December 2009, the plates are still forthcoming under a revised plan.

Greene County Clerk Michael Flynn said Friday that the new plates, called Empire Gold, will begin being phased in on April 1, but that their use will no longer be automatically mandatory for all registrations.

Flynn said people wanting to keep their existing blue-and-white Liberty plates when they renew an expiring registration will be allowed to do so, but that the state will, however, require all new vehicle registrations to use the Empire Gold.

“[State] DMV describes it as a change that canceled the mandatory plate reissuance,” said Flynn. “They have decided (instead) to have it apply only to new registrations.”

“They said they will be issuing the new Empire Gold blue and gold license plate April 1,” said Flynn, “and that they will be phased in gradually as the Liberty plates are depleted.”

“So if you have to put a new vehicle on the road,” he said, “you’ll still have to get the blue and gold.”

Flynn also explained that no more Liberty plates are being manufactured.

“Once that supply is exhausted,” he said, “they’re not making any more of them.”

“Once those stocks are depleted, you won’t have an option,” he added, noting that the existing supply won’t last long.

“They’ll be gone quite quickly,” Flynn said. “Plates turn over somewhat regularly.”

“We collect a box or two a day,” he said, “from people who turn them in for various reasons.”

In addition to stock depletion, Flynn indicated that simple DMV regulatory and operational logistics may also require across the board use of Empire Gold in the not too distant future.

Flynn explained that beginning in April, New York State will — for an open-ended duration — essentially have two types of license plates on the road, and suggested it is not improbable that once a sufficient majority of the plates on the road are Empire Gold, the state may determine that it is then time to become a one-plate state again, and require all Liberty plates to be replaced.

Of the Governor’s decision to revise and implement the Empire Gold plate program, Flynn indicated it has not been met with much favor by county clerks.

“It’s a disappointment,” he said. “The clerks tried to take the temperature of the general public about this issue, and collected a significant number of signatures (from those) that found it unnecessary and a waste of resources.”

County clerks across the state collected, in fact, more than 100,000 signatures on petitions opposing the original plan.

“I think the people will be really offended,” Flynn said. “They thought that these issues were heard with their petitions.”

Flynn said the plate switch, and its related cost, also affects upstate people more because there is less opportunity for public transportation.

“In a rural area,” he said, “we live by our (personal) transportation.”

Flynn said the revenue stream from the new plates cannot address the $130 million target of the original program, and questioned whether half-switching to the Empire Gold is worth the effort for the revenue it returns.

Flynn said he anticipates receiving the new Empire Gold plates in house at Greene County DMV, Catskill, by mid-to-late March for distribution on April 1.

Source [The Daily Mail]