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Manatee License Plate and Decal Program

MANATEE LICENSE PLATE

The manatee license plate was enacted on March 16, 1990, and was created to raise funds for manatee research and protection.  To date, over 559,000 manatee license plates have been issued and nearly $34,000,000 collected to fund manatee research and protection in Florida.  However, revenues into the Save the Manatee Trust Fund are not keeping pace with inflation.  Based on current estimates of costs associated with manatee research and management, the Trust Fund balance will be fully depleted by fiscal year 2009-2010.  This projected funding deficit will impact our ability to conserve and protect the manatee.  FWC has developed a business plan to address this and other funding problems and is taking steps to increase revenues from sales of the manatee license plate.
 
The manatee license plate, once the most popular, is now the fifth most popular.  Two explanations for the drop in sales of the manatee license plate are that it has not been marketed as effectively as many of the new plates, and it has not been redesigned since its inception.  Statutory changes to allow a portion of the license plate funds to be used for marketing have been proposed.  In addition, the manatee license plate has been redesigned to enhance market potential and to increase revenue.

Florida artist Nancy Blouers designed the new tag.  The artwork is now in the final stages of preparation and the process of developing the new plates will begin soon.  A letter of intent was sent to the Department of Motor Vehicles indicating FWC's plan to redesign the plate.  Once production has begun on the new design, the new plate will be ready for distribution in approximately seven months.  Old plates will be purchased as surplus to facilitate the roll-out of the new design.

The manatee license plate generated $1,494,520 in revenue in 2005, with the sale of nearly 75,000 plates.  FWC projects a 20% increase in revenue following improved marketing and release of the redesigned plate, which could add several thousand dollars of additional revenue.

MANATEE DECAL

Chapter 328, Florida Statutes, provides that a sticker or decal can be given to citizens who donate $5 or more to the Save the Manatee Trust Fund. Each year, FWC holds an art contest for students to submit designs for the annual manatee decal. FWC invites all middle and high school age students who attend public, private, or home schools in Florida to enter the Manatee Decal Art Contest. This art project encourages older students to support protection efforts by learning about manatees and their role in Florida’s environment. Sixty students sent entries to the manatee decal art contest this year.  In April, a press event was held to present an award to the 2007-2008 Manatee Decal Art Contest winner, Natasha Thornton, a 9th grade student at Coral Reef Senior High School.  FWC staff from south Florida and FWC Commission Chairman Rodney Baretto participated in the event. 

Each year tax collectors participate by selling decals at their offices statewide. Citrus County was the winning county in the 2006-2007 Voluntary Contribution Campaign held in July each year.  Money from the decals supports manatee protection efforts such as rescue, rehabilitation, research, and public education. The 2006-2007 decals, with artwork designed by Berry Donovan Foster, were available for sale from July 1, 2006, to June 30, 2007. Approximately 10,000 decals were sold with Foster’s design. In 2006-2007, 10,632 decals were sold, raising $53,160 for the Save the Manatee Trust Fund.