About The Controversial Centennial License Plate

ST. CROIX — The Bureau of Motor Vehicles (B.M.V.) recently issued a notice that vexed many Virgin Islanders. It reads: “MANDATORY: Effective Monday, April 11, 2016, all vehicle plates will be changing to the New Transfer Centennial plates. The price of the Centennial plates will be $49. You must turn in your old plates to window #2.”

The word “centennial” is used in relation to a hundredth year anniversary. March 31, 2017, marks the 100th year anniversary of the Virgin Islands transfer from Denmark to the United States, hence the formation of the Centennial Commission, which was created in 2010 by the 29th Legislature to oversee and plan activities for the milestone.

Word of the notice has been circulating social media for days, along with comments decrying the move as too restrictive. And although many residents have reposted the notice, it went viral when St. Croix resident Annamaria Heyliger-Hector posted a picture along with her assessment of the matter.

Here’s Ms. Heyliger-Hector’s statement, verbatim: “I don’t understand this. Why is this mandatory????? This is like a dictatorship. Why can’t I keep the plates I have now. When is the deadline to have this done? So what about the people with special plates? Is this the plan to pay for centennial activities???? RIDICULOUS!!!!”

The Consortium reached out to Senator Myron Jackson, a historian and preservationist, who also serves as a representative of the Legislature on the Centennial Commission, to explain the reasoning behind the mandatory license plate change and why the new plate is about $10 more expensive than usual.

We found out that Ms. Heyliger-Hector is partially right. Yes, the plate costs $49 because, according to Mr. Jackson, $10 on each sale will go towards funding the commemoration. He said B.M.V. changes the design of license plates every ten years, and several years ago, knowing that a license plate change was approaching, language in the Centennial Commission bill stated that the Centennial should have oversight over any license plate that was being designed, so as to fall in line with the 100th year commemoration. The law also required that the new plate be issued during the 2014-15 cycle, but because of design conflicts between the commission and B.M.V., a final issuance is only now happening.

In regards to the mandatory change issue, which seems to be the biggest cause of residents’ ire, Mr. Jackson said B.M.V. created the firestorm because it did not clearly explain in what context the word “mandatory” was being used. No, you don’t have to spend $49 on a license plate if your vehicle is not up for registration. However, when the time comes to renew your vehicle’s registration, the plates will be replaced with the Centennial design, which has been the case with every new design.

“If you’ve already registered your car, when you go in next year, you will be issued a new plate that just happens to be the Centennial design,” Mr. Jackson said.

As already stated, $10 of that amount will go directly towards funding Centennial activities, $2 to the Peace Officer Fund and the remaining $37 will stay with B.M.V. Mr. Jackson said because of the former administration’s lack of attention to the funding needs of the commission, along with neglect from the Senate, the commission has been short of funds.

“The governor said straight out that his credit card cannot put together an observance worthy of this centennial. We need the money,” Mr. Jackson said.

He continued: “We change our license plates every ten years and I’ve never heard any debate over any design and the fees when those changes occur. We’ve had “Our Island, Our Home”, we’ve had an emancipation plate when we made the 150th — we’ve had various plates during benchmark moments in our history.

“As a leader, I understand where the people are coming from, but the Centennial Commission didn’t request a license plate change, it was B.M.V. that decided they were changing plates, and we said that it should be reflective of the 100 years that we’ve been under the American flag.”