Councilman McGaughey asked the Wilmington City Public Works and Transportation Committee to request that the Delaware General Assembly amend Title 21 of the Delaware Code to change how the Department of Motor Vehicles recycles vehicle registration numbers. McGaughey described a problem in which recycled plate numbers can be reissued quickly and lead to duplicate plates in circulation, causing drivers to receive tickets intended for other vehicles.

“This is actually asking, it's requesting that the DMV that they actually extend the time to to recycle those numbers, give them a little bit more time, or wait till someone actually surrenders the plate,” Councilman McGaughey said, explaining the proposed resolution would ask the state to lengthen the period before reissuing a plate number or require surrender of the old plate first.

McGaughey described a personal example in which his household received EZPass toll notices for activity tied to the same plate number that had been issued to them, saying the notices accumulated until the DMV and EZPass could resolve the mismatch. He said the issue has recurred for others and that he has already discussed a draft with a state representative, adding he hoped a downstate sponsor could move the request forward.

The chair noted the item is a resolution and does not require a committee vote; committee members discussed the draft and asked staff to place the resolution on the upcoming city agenda. The committee indicated both the ordinance on Chapter 37 and this resolution were expected to appear on the city agenda for May 22. No committee-level vote on the resolution was recorded in the transcript.