The “Empire Gold” license plate design for New York state, which was unveiled Nov. 10, will be required on most state-registered vehicles beginning April 2010.

The new plate, which is gold in color with dark blue letters and numbers in the central part of the plate, was unveiled by David J. Swarts, New York State Commissioner of Motor Vehicles and chair of the Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee.

The letters and numbers are separated by a small dark-blue silhouette of the state.

Across the top of the plate there is a dark-blue banner with “New York” printed in gold in the center. “Empire State” is printed in dark blue letters across the bottom.

According to a press release from the Department of Motor Vehicles, Swarts said “the bold colors of the new license plate reflect New York’s force and its resilience.”

In addition to helping maintain highway safety and reducing the number of unregistered and uninsured vehicles on state roads, issuing new license plates will generate $129 million in general fund revenue over two years, which will help address the state’s financial crisis, Swarts said.

But some opposed to the change do not see this as a adequate reason.

“We can make up the revenue through other means,” said Darrel Aubertine, New York state senator for District 48, who is in opposition to the license plate change.

“During last year’s budget, we worked to eliminate many of the nickel-and-dime proposals and the license plate renewal is one that I opposed, but [it] remained as we passed an on-time budget,” he said. “My upstate colleagues and I believe we can work with the governor to find other ways to make up the revenue from this proposal before it goes into effect.”

The legibility and reflectivity of the current Empire plate, which was issued beginning in 2001, was only guaranteed for up to five years.

Current plates will have been in use for 10 to 11 years by the time they are replaced by the new Empire Gold plates.

According to the DMV Press Release, periodically re-issuing plates is important for overall safety, law enforcement and the general integrity of the plate.

The DMV will first issue the new plates to drivers whose vehicle registration expires in May 2010.

A plate fee of $25 will be added to the registration renewal fee. Single-plate registration, for vehicles such as motorcycles, will be charged a plate fee of $12.50.

Those choosing to keep the number and letter combination of their current plate will be required to pay a $20 fee.

The DMV will also be sharing updated plate number information electronically with E-ZPass so that motorists who participate in that program will not have to update it themselves.