Ads Offset State’s Printing Costs for Forms
JEFFERSON CITY, MO—In a bid to reduce costs, the Missouri Department of Revenue this week began sending out motor vehicle registration renewal notices that include advertisements in exchange for the forms being printed at no cost to the state. This “transpromo” (transactional-promotional) program is the result of a new public-private partnership between the department and Imagitas Inc., based in Waltham, MA.
Revenue generated by the advertisements will offset Imagitas’ costs to print the notices and the state also is to get a share of the revenues generated by motorists responding to the ads. According to the department’s director, strict guidelines have been put in place for the ads and there will be a clear statement on the renewal notices that the advertisers are helping defray the costs of government, but are not endorsed by the state.
Similar programs are said to already be in place in New York, Florida, Ohio, Minnesota and Massachusetts. According to Imagitas, those states have saved more than $6 million in direct and indirect expenses since 2000 and have received hundreds of thousands of dollars in new revenue from the advertising.