(The Center Square) – The Friends of Sycamore Shoals Historic Area was the most popular specialty license plate in Tennessee in fiscal 2023 with 36,894 plates sending $619,130.55 to the beneficiary.
Specialty plates require a $61.50 annual fee with $35 of the fee going to the Tennessee Arts Commission, the plate’s respective beneficiary, and the state’s Highway Fund.
The Tennessee Department of Revenue presented a breakdown of the top 10 plates in its annual report.
Sycamore Shoals park in Elizabethton celebrates 18th century history in the state near the site of the oldest standing frame house in Tennessee, built in the mid to late 1770s, along with where the first Tennessee settlers arrived along the Watauga Old Fields.
The plate funds go toward development, maintenance and presentation of the park’s grounds and structures.
Friends of the Smokies was the second most popular plate with 32,506 bringing $1.1 million to the beneficiary while the American Eagle Foundation had 19,849 plates leading to $337,408.20 in funding for the foundation.
The rest of the top 10 was: Agriculture (19,685 plates with $669,249.50 to beneficiary), Fish and Wildlife Species (15,433 for $263,155.35), Dollywood Foundation (12,874 for $214,680.35), Save the Bees (11,047 for $183,730.20), St. Jude’s Research Hospital (11,005 for $379,589.70), the Tennessee Titans (10,404 for $177,630.70) and the Tennessee Arts Commission (9,913 for $333,619.30).
