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Department of Revenue: plate production costs low but mailings and demand spike strain highway fund
Summary
Secretary Mark Burkhart told the committee the Department of Revenue pays production and mailing for Kansas plates: production costs $5.17 per unit, mailing about $4.92; plate requests rose 45–50% after the statewide plate replacement project, increasing pressure on a relatively flat highway fund transfer.
Mark Burkhart, Kansas secretary of revenue, told the Committee on Legislative Budget the Department of Revenue pays the costs to produce and mail license plates and that the production contract has been with Center Industries of Wichita since 1975. "The actual production costs for a license plate is, as of yesterday, $5.17 to actually produce the plate," he said, adding mailing averages about $4.92 and varies by ZIP code.
Burkhart said a recent statewide replacement project funded with ARPA stands out in historical costs; after the major replacement project plates requested per month did not fall back to historical levels (about 40,000 per month) but instead rose by roughly 45–50 percent. The department funds production and mailing from state highway fund dollars; transfers into the Department of Revenue from that fund have been flat for five to six years, he said, creating a gap between higher production and constrained transfers.
Diane Williams, director of vehicles, explained categories of plates (standard, vanity, personalized, specialty) and confirmed that royalty and application fees for specialty plates go to the sponsoring organizations, not to KDOR, and that some costs the state bears — particularly postage and production for replacement plates — are borne by highway fund dollars.
Why it matters: the increased volume of plate requests and the Department’s statutory obligation to contract with a vendor that employs physically challenged individuals have increased costs borne by the state highway fund. Committee members asked for detail on total transfers and how much of the transfers are used for plates specifically; Burkhart agreed to provide that break‑out to the committee.
Next steps: the Department will provide the committee with the total transfers from the highway fund that cover plates and a breakdown of plate program costs.
