Statewide Iowa — The new blackout license plates offered by the Iowa Department of Transportation has been extremely popular among Iowans. Due to the high demand for the blackout design, the Iowa DOT says they’ve been working with suppliers to maintain needed production materials, but have been running out of specialty plate materials as quickly as they are purchased.
According to the DOT, that’s caused some counties around the state to run out of, or run low on, their inventory of the non-personalized version of the plates. The DOT expects all counties that have reordered blackout plates to receive their stock within the next week.
IDOT says customers are encouraged to check with their county treasurer’s office to make sure they have stock on-hand before making the trip to purchase their non-personalized blackout plates.
Even if the blackout plates are not in stock, customers should be able to place an order in person at their county treasurer’s office and will be notified when they are available for pick-up. Personalized versions of the blackout plates can be ordered in person as well as online.
As of Sept. 10th, more than 17,500 blackout plates have been issued since the design was first made available on July 1st. The new plate will cost $35 for a non-personalized, alpha-numeric plate and an additional $25 (for a total of $60) for a personalized plate. An additional fee of $10 for non-personalized and $15 for personalized plates will be added to renewal registration fees. Funds collected for the blackout plate will go to the Road Use Tax Fund, which funds state, county, and city road and bridge projects throughout the state.
Photo courtesy Iowa Department of Transportation
