| Date: |
June 12, 2007 |
| To: |
All County Tax Assessor-Collectors |
| Subject: |
Increased Issuance of License Plates |
These documents contain text of correspondence sent by
TxDOT to the county tax assessor-collectors, statutory agents who provide
vehicle registration and titling services for citizens in Texas. This
information is provided to apprise the general public of issues affecting the
state’s vehicle titling and registration process.
PURPOSE
To provide you information regarding the increase in the number
of license plates issued under the “Needs Replacement” Program.
DETAILS
In December 2006, Registration and Title System (RTS) Version
5.3.0 provided functional changes in RTS to accommodate the
registration and titling of exempt vehicles at the county (refer
to RTB #075-06). This release also included a change to the
method of plate age calculation in RTS from “renewal period”
(which updated the plate age only after the renewal was
processed) to “birth date” (which automatically updates the
plate age each year from the month/year of issuance). This
change resulted in license plate age changes as depicted in the
following table:
|
|
Plate Age
"Renewal Period" Calculation |
Replacement Required |
Plate Age "Birth Date" Calculation |
Replacement Required After Change |
| New License Plate 01/2001 |
0 |
N/A |
0 |
N/A |
| 12/2001 Renewal |
0 |
No |
1 |
No |
| 12/2002 Renewal |
1 |
No |
2 |
No |
| 12/2003 Renewal |
2 |
No |
3 |
No |
| 12/2004 Renewal |
3 |
No |
4 |
Optional |
| 12/2005 Renewal |
4 |
Optional |
5 |
Optional |
| 12/2006 Renewal |
5 |
Optional |
6 |
Optional |
| 12/2007 Renewal |
6 |
Optional |
7 |
Mandatory |
| 12/2008 Renewal |
7 |
Mandatory |
8 |
Mandatory |
Under this new procedure, license plates not renewed for
consecutive periods were corrected to reflect the plate age for
the plate birth date. This resulted in an increase in the number
of license plates being eligible for replacement under this
program during calendar year 2007, and is the reason you are
seeing some renewals that reflect a plate age greater than
eight.
Testing has shown that the reflectivity of the license plate decreases
dramatically after eight years. This plate replacement program identifies those
plates that are approaching that plate age and provides for their “no charge”
replacement once they reach the prescribed optional or mandatory replacement
renewal periods. As license plate reflectivity is a major contributor to a
driver’s ability to recognize approaching vehicles, and plays a significant role
in enhancing visibility of vehicles at night, the timely replacement of these
plates is essential to providing the public a safer driving environment.
COUNTY IMPACT
The counties may experience varying increases in mailing of license plates
replaced under the “needs replacement” program. This increase will likely extend
through the end of the calendar year and, possibly, into the early part of 2008.
At that point, plate replacement volumes should return to approximately the
monthly levels experienced in 2006.
CONTACT
If you have any questions or need any additional information,
please contact your local Vehicle Titles and Registration
Division Regional Office. You may also call Bob Tanner,
Director, Systems Management at (512) 467-5952. In some cases the Registration and Title Bulletins (RTB) contain attachments. If you
require a copy of the original signed RTB and the attachments, please
e-mail us and include the RTB number.
Repeat requests are subject to charges in accordance with Open Record
policies. |
