Florida drivers can soon order new Margaritaville specialty plate. Here’s how

With House Bill 403 taking effect this month, a whole slew of new specialty plates are set to join the mix — including one based on the Margaritaville restaurants.

The new law directs the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles to design additional specialty license plates, which include options for plates themed around places like Universal Orlando or The Villages.

Each plate is expected to cost an additional $15 to $25 a year, and part of the proceeds go to a particular organization associated with the respective plate.

In the case of the Margaritaville-themed plate, that’s the Jimmy Buffett charity “Singing for Change,” which provides grants to nonprofits to help with recovery efforts in areas impacted by disasters.

[READ: Here’s the full list of Florida’s new license plates. When can you buy one?]

However, these new specialty plates aren’t available just yet.

According to state officials, pre-sale vouchers for the new plates were set to go on sale when the law went into effect on Oct. 1.

From there, each plate has up to two years to sell 3,000 vouchers before the license plate will be manufactured.

If the pre-sale period ends without an organization hitting that target, their respective specialty plate will instead be deauthorized, meaning it won’t actually be produced.

In that case, anyone who bought a pre-sale voucher for the plate can apply for a refund.

HOW CAN I BUY A PRE-SALE VOUCHER?

The latest state figures for pre-sale vouchers — last updated on Sept. 23 — don’t yet include the new plate designs.

However, once the pre-sale vouchers for these new plates do become available, drivers can order them through their local tax collector’s office.

To do so online, drivers must type in their license plate number (or the recipient’s if the voucher is being sent as a gift).

WHAT WILL IT LOOK LIKE?

Lawmakers introduced a sample Margaritaville plate design earlier this year when HB 403 was still being worked out in the Legislature, but there’s no official design yet.

A spokesperson with the FLHSMV told News 6 that the agency typically gets images for the plates in mid-October, after which the design will be posted on the agency’s website.

That being said, the state has some guidelines for all specialty plate designs that are submitted through the FLHSMV.

Each respective organization is responsible for submitting a proposed art design to the Division of Motorist Services (DMS) within 60 days of Oct. 1, when the new law officially takes effect.

The DMS will then be responsible for developing the specialty plate based on state requirements. While designs haven’t been released yet, they can be printed in one of two ways: center and left-hand.

The state specifications for specialty plate designs are as follows:

• • The size must be 12 inches wide by 6 inches high.
    The characters on the plate will be roll-coated in black, blue, green, red, or white ink.

  • Contrast between the plate’s background colors and the characters must be defined enough for law enforcement officers to be able to clearly read the characters during both nighttime and daytime.

  • The word “FLORIDA” must be printed at the top of the plate in “Arial” font and size 75 point. Meanwhile, the bottom words must be in “Arial Bold.”

• • The center graphic must be no larger than 2.5 inches wide by 3 inches high.

  • The license plate number must have three characters to the left and three to the right of the centered graphic design.

• IS IT A LEFT-SIDE DESIGN?

  • The graphic must instead be on the left side of the license plate and be no larger than 3.5 inches wide by 3 inches high.

  • The license plate is limited to five characters printed on the right side of the graphic.

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