The General Audit Chamber submitted its report entitled “Mini audit: Implementation of personalized license plates” to Parliament today. The report highlights the possibilities of implementing an additional structural revenue stream; personalized license plates. Personalized license plates give the consumer the choice to pay an additional fee for a specialty license plate.
The report looks closely at Aruba as a benchmark island for personalized plates and investigates the structure in which they implement this. In 2020, Aruba generated revenue of over a half a million Aruban Florin (NAfl.) in personalized plates. The revenue generated from personalized plates accounted for 2% of the total motor vehicle tax revenue.
The report highlights certain challenges with Sint Maarten’s system in implementing personalized plates. The main challenge being that the current law does not support the issuance of personalized license plates and would have to be amended to facilitate this.
The Audit Chamber found that Aruba is able to produce personalized plates locally. This means that personalized license plates are produced in real time and immediately upon request, which eliminates any risks associated with additional cost of producing plates in advance and timeliness.
With an already weakened economy from the impact of Hurricane Irma, further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the road to recovery and solving liquidity issues stand at the forefront. The findings of this report highlight an avenue worth further exploring where Government may benefit from a structural approach to increasing revenue during this time.
The report is published in both English and Dutch and is available on the website of the general audit chamber (www.arsxm.org) and via links on the general audit chamber’s social media platforms Facebook and LinkedIn.