New York State’s DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles) proposes license plate replacement with mandatory $25 fee. 

This comes on the heel of numerous complaints that the current license plates have been plagued with peeling problems

Wayne County Clerk Mike Jankowski calls the move by the State as nothing short of an “unnecessary money grab”. Jankowski has voiced his concern over the $25 fee associated with a mandatory license plate replacement announced by Governor Andrew Cuomo. 

“Looking around the roads of New York it has been obvious there is a problem with our license plates. The paint on the blue and gold license plates tends to bubble up, peel, becoming illegible. Since it was a problem of production and not the customer it has been the policy of the Department of Motor Vehicles to replace these plates free of charge,” stated Jankowski.

This week Governor Cuomo announced that to deal with the defective and old license plates, all drivers will be required to replace their license plates with an as yet unnamed new plate. The fee for this replacement will be a mandatory $25 with an additional $20 if the customer wanted to keep their current number.

Jankowski reiterated--“This is an unnecessary money grab on the part of the Stare Government. It is unfair to the residents of Wayne County to expect them to have to pay up to $45 to correct a mistake that the state government made in the first place. Yes, plates need to be replaced periodically, but this replacement should be treated like the real ID drivers license and ID card that required no additional fee for the upgrade.  

“I strongly encourage concerned citizens to contact the governor and their state legislators to express their opposition to this unfair money grab on New York State Drivers,” he added.