CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The Texas DMV has spent the last several months redesigning the look and embedded security features of official temporary tags.
The new tags are safer to use than the existing tags and include additional features to help law enforcement identify counterfeit tags and increase the safety of traffic stops.
Kevin Kishnick, the Nueces County Tax Accessor said counterfeit tags have been an issue in our region.
“Every single one of these is basically a non-record of a plate that was fake,” said Kishnick.
This box full of non-registered plates was collected during the Fourth of July weekend on one road alone, between McAllen and Alice.
“Some of these could represent taxes that weren’t paid for motor vehicles sales tax. It could represent registration fees that didn’t go to the state of Texas,” he said.
That’s a minimum of $74.50 for a renewal. Money that could be used to pay for better infrastructure.
Kishnick added that temporary tag abuse is an ongoing problem the DMV is constantly working to solve.
“You can't make them go away but hopefully it will slow down some of the theft,” he said.
Bryan Hills, the General Manager at Oasis Motor Company has worked in the dealership industry for 18 years.
During that time, he’s seen a rise in fake paper plates.
“When you buy a car, you get a buyers tag and those are the ones that people are making fraudulently,” Hills said.
Licensed dealerships will start issuing the newly designed tags on Dec. 9.
Oasis Motor Company will not change much in the way they access temporary tags.
“Your temp tag is good for 60 days. I have 20 business days to register your vehicle so you should have your plates way before the 60 days, explained Hills.
If you have temporary tags when the new design comes out.
It’s not a requirement to change it. But, it’s important to replace it with a metal plate after 60 days.
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