As CFO Blaise Ingoglia travels around the state auditing local governments for overspending, one constitutional officer from Florida’s most populous county has an idea for how the Sunshine State could easily save cash.
Miami-Dade Tax Collector Dariel Fernandez is calling on state lawmakers and the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles to eliminate the physical yellow registration decal that is currently required on almost all Florida license plates.
He said the change wouldn’t eliminate vehicle registration or any requirement to renew annually. It would just do away with the physical sticker, which his Office says is “outdated and unnecessary thanks to modern digital verification systems used statewide.”
After crunching numbers, Fernandez determined that Miami-Dade alone would see an annual savings of $2.5 million by going fully digital.
Other states — including Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Vermont — have already done so.
That’s because the physical stickers are no longer needed and, in some cases, counterproductive, since they can fade, peel and get stolen, Fernandez said in a statement.
“My responsibility is to modernize our systems and reduce unnecessary burdens on our community. We should not be asking families to stick something on their license plate when our technology already verifies registration in seconds,” he said.
“Eliminating the physical decal is a common-sense step forward for our state, one that saves money, reduces fraud, and embraces technology we already have. Florida families deserve a smarter and more modern process. Ending the physical yellow decal is a simple but powerful step in that direction.”
Fernandez, who has expanded and secured his Office’s operations since taking over in January, plans to soon pitch his proposal officially to state leaders, the Florida Tax Collectors Association and “bipartisan partners across Florida.”
