Some Texas specialty license Plates On Their Way Out-michael towner

Texas motorists with specialty license plates displaying the logos of Texas Tech, Lubbock Christian University or West Texas A&M University can count on keeping their tags for at least another five years.

But drivers with plates advertising other institutions, sports teams and organizations may not be as fortunate: Of the 366 types of specialty license plates the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles has issued since 2009, several dozen will soon be nixed.

The canceled plates did not generate enough interest from Texas motorists, meaning insufficient revenue for the state. To stay in the market, each type of plate had to have a minimum of 200 buyers a year, and the 87 tags to be nixed later this year didn’t meet that criteria.

Despite the cancellations of those specialty license plates, the DMV considers the contract it signed with My Plates, the company that issues those tags, a success.

“The specialty license plate program has been very successful in giving Texans the option to add a personal touch to their vehicles and support charities, schools, sports teams and other organizations,” DMV Executive Director Whitney Brewster said in a statement.

“The program has generated significant revenue for the state, and we expect that to increase under the new contract,” Brewster said. “The TxDMV looks forward to further enhancing the specialty license plate program over the next five years.”

The agency has agreed to another contract with My Plates, Brewster told the Texas Senate Transportation Committee last month.

“The contract with that vendor, My Plates, expires later this year,” she said. “However, we have successfully negotiated a renewal of the My Plates contract for a second five-year term, and the new contract will guarantee the state $15 million in revenue from the sales of new license plates only.

“The last contract allowed for renewals of specialty license plates as well as new license plates to go against that guarantee,” Brewster added. “We have modified it so that it is only new plate sales that hit that required guarantee, and this is to encourage new plate sales.”

Steve Farrar, president of MyPlates.com, said there is still hope for the targeted plates.

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