Letter To The Editor: License Plates Cost Too Much Money

Wyoming resident Carol Smith questions the cost of mandatory license plate replacement every eight years, revealing a $1.6 million manufacturing expense for new plates in 2025. Smith urges lawmakers to repeal the law, citing unnecessary taxpayer burden.

Dear Editor: When I was required to replace my license plate it was in perfectly good condition with a new one last year, I began to wonder what it cost the state to replace all plates in 2025. After asking three or four agencies in the government what that figure was, I recently got an answer. $5 per plate, or $1,599,980. That's a lot of change when most all plates are in good condition. I was told this is the cost of manufacturing so, hopefully, that included design work, materials, and labor.. I also learned it was the law that required a change every eight years. See Motor Vehicles - 31-2-213. It took a search of 542 pages on motor vehicle law to find this. No wonder government is in runaway mode....no one has time to look into laws As you can see, this law costs taxpayers plenty so I asked our elected representatives the reasoning for it. Maybe they can introduce a bill to eliminate that law. Sincerely, Carol Smith Ten Sleep