Hundreds of people have preordered a new specialty Florida license plate in honor of the late singer Jimmy Buffett.
The “Margaritaville” plate became available for preorder on Oct. 1, and as of Oct. 21, data from the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (FLHSMV) shows 777 people have preordered it.
“Proceeds from sales of the Margaritaville License Plate will support Singing for Change, created by Jimmy Buffett, to benefit Florida nonprofits helping victims of hurricanes and other disasters,” according to the Margaritaville website.
Vouchers for the Margaritaville license plate cost $33. The payment is non-refundable, unless the plate doesn’t meet the presale requirement.
“New specialty plates in Florida must sell at least 3,000 presale vouches before the new specialty plate will be manufactured and made available,” the FLHSMV says on its website.
Data shows it’s the fourth-most popular license plate in the state of those available for presale, behind the ones for Biscayne Bay, Inter Miami CF and Protect the Gopher Tortoise, in that order.
Miami-Dade County license plates
In Miami-Dade County, the most popular license plate preordered, by far, is the one for Biscayne Bay, with 1,286 sales.
This may be because the county has been able to waive fees for the plate, which benefits the Miami Foundation so its proceeds can be used for Biscayne Bay restoration and education efforts.
“Thanks to a generous donation from the Brady Hunter Foundation, the fee to reserve the ‘Protect Biscayne Bay’ specialty plate will be waived, allowing us to fulfill statewide circulation requirements sooner and distribute license plate vouchers to people passionate about climate and environmental resilience,” the county said on its website.
Inter Miami CF follows with 229 sales, which according to the team, will go “towards the Inter Miami CF Foundation and will be used directly for community programming in South Florida, specifically on youth enrichment initiatives to benefit the underserved and at-risk kids in our community.”
In Broward County, the Gadsden flag license plate has the most sales with 22 preorders.
