Changes will be where, how tags are made
FRANKFORT, Ky. – The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) is changing the way it produces temporary tags for motor vehicles, saving money for taxpayers and reducing production time for tags.
The changes were made as part of Gov. Steve Beshear’s Smart Government Initiative, which challenged state agencies to find ways to reduce the general cost of doing business. A simple change in the type of card stock used for temporary tags and a decision to begin printing the tags in-house will result in estimated savings of at least $36,000 annually.
Used on newly purchased vehicles that do not have current registration plates until a permanent license plate is obtained, temporary tags have a holographic strip added, in a two-part process, to prevent them from being illegally duplicated. The new process will change the temporary tags to a panographic material that contains an embedded security feature. If the new tags are copied, the duplicated version will have “void” printed across the tag – rendering the copy unusable and making the holographic strip unnecessary.
In addition, KYTC will no longer be contracting with Kentucky Correctional Industries in LaGrange to print the tags. The tags will be printed at KYTC headquarters in Frankfort, reducing production and shipping costs.
In-house production also will mean production can now be done on a just-in-time basis and eliminate the need to inventory large quantities of temporary tags.
The new temporary tags for motor vehicles will be similar in appearance to the temporary tags introduced for motorcycles two years ago. The new tags will be available soon after the current stock has been used. About 400,000 temporary tags are printed each year.
