BILL ANALYSIS
AB 2444
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 17, 2006
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
Jenny Oropeza, Chair
AB 2444 (Klehs) - As Amended: April 6, 2006
SUBJECT : Motor vehicle registration fees
SUMMARY : Allows county transportation agencies to impose
registration fee surcharges of up to $5 per year to fund
congestion management activities. Specifically, this bill :
1)Defines a "county transportation agency" as an agency that
develops the transportation plan of a county within the
nine-county Bay Area's Metropolitan Transportation Commission.
2)Allows a county transportation agency to impose a fee of up to
$5 on motor vehicles registered within its county if the board
of the county transportation agency adopts, by a two-thirds
vote, a resolution providing for both the fee and a
corresponding program for the management of traffic
congestion.
3)Prohibits such a fee imposed from becoming operative until six
months after the effective date of this bill and pursuant to
the resolution adopted by the agency's board.
4)Allows a county transportation agency to cease collection of
the fee through adoption of a resolution by a majority vote.
5)Requires the net revenues from the fee to be used for purposes
of congestion management.
6)Allows the revenues to be used to pay for programs with a
relationship or benefit to the owners of motor vehicles that
are paying the fee, including but not limited to roadway
operations and improvements, transit capital improvements and
operations and bicycle and pedestrian projects and programs.
7)Requires the board of the county transportation agency, prior
to imposing the fee, to make a finding of fact by two-thirds
of its members that those programs bear a relationship or
benefit to the motor vehicles that will pay the fee.
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8)Limits to 5% of the fees, a county transportation agency's
administrative costs associated with the program.
9)Requires a specific program with performance measures and a
budget to be developed and adopted by the county
transportation agency at a noticed public hearing prior to the
imposition of the fee.
10)Requires each county transportation agency to have an
independent audit performed on its program.
11)Requires each county transportation agency to provide a
report to the Legislature on its adopted program by July 1,
2011.
12)Allows the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD),
by a two-thirds vote of its board, to impose a fee of up to $5
on motor vehicles registered within the counties in its
jurisdiction if it adopts a resolution providing for both the
fee and a corresponding program for the mitigation of the
impacts of motor vehicles on the environment.
13)Prohibits the fee from becoming operative until six months
after the effective date of this bill and pursuant to the
resolution adopted by the BAAQMD.
14)Allows the BAAQMD to adopt a resolution by majority vote to
cease collection of the fee.
15)Requires net revenues from the BAAQMD fee to be distributed
as follows:
(a) 50% to the BAAQMD, of which 75% must be
expended on projects in the county of origin, and 25% on
regional projects.
(b) 50% to the California Regional Water Quality
Control Board for the San Francisco Bay Region (SF Water
Board), of which 75% must be expended on projects in the
county of origin and 25% on regional projects.
16)Allows BAAQMD revenues to be used to pay for programs that
mitigate the impacts of motor vehicles on the environment,
including, but not limited to, storm water runoff mitigation
projects, water quality improvement projects, and air quality
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improvement and climate change projects.
17)Requires BAAQMD programs to have a relationship or benefit to
the owners of motor vehicles that are paying the fee.
18)Requires BAAQMD, prior to imposing the fee, to make a finding
of fact by a two-thirds vote of all of the BAAQMD board that
those programs bear a relationship or benefit to the motor
vehicles that will pay the fee.
19)Requires BAAQMD and the SF Water Board, prior to the
imposition of the BAAQMD fee, to develop and adopt, at a
noticed public hearing, a specific program with performance
measures and a budget for the anticipated revenues each agency
is expected to receive.
20)Requires BAAQMD and the SF Water Board to have an independent
audit performed on their respective programs, with the review
and report provided to each agency at a noticed public
hearing.
21)Requires BAAQMD and the SF Water Board to provide reports to
the Legislature on their programs by July 1, 2011.
22)Requires the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), if requested
by a county transportation agency, to collect the fee upon the
registration or renewal of registration of any motor vehicle
registered in the county, except those vehicles that are
expressly exempted by statute from the payment of registration
fees.
23)Requires a county transportation agency to pay for DMV's
initial setup and programming costs through a direct contract
with the department.
24)Requires any direct contract payment by a county
transportation agency to be repaid, with no restriction on the
funds, to the agency as part of the initial revenues
distributed.
25)Requires regular DMV collection costs to not be counted
against the 5-percent administration cost limit.
26)Requires DMV, after deducting all its costs, to distribute
net fee revenues to the county transportation agency.
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27)Requires DMV, if requested by the BAAQMD, to collect the fee
upon the registration or renewal of registration of any motor
vehicle registered in a county within BAAQMD's jurisdiction,
except those vehicles that are expressly exempted by statute
from the payment of registration fees.
28)Requires the BAAQMD to pay for DMV's initial setup and
programming costs through a direct contract with DMV.
29)Requires any direct contract payment by the BAAQMD to be
repaid, with no restriction on the funds, to MTC as part of
the initial revenues available for distribution.
30)Requires DMV, after deducting all its costs, to distribute
the net revenues to the BAAQMD.
EXISTING LAW : Authorizes DMV, if requested by specified
entities, to levy fees for specified purposes upon a vehicle's
original or renewal registration. Current fees generate funding
for such purposes as protecting air quality, providing responses
to freeway emergencies, prosecuting vehicle theft, and providing
fingerprint identification for local law enforcement. Most of
these programs are initiated at the request of individual
counties.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : According to the author, this bill is a followup to
his AB 1623, which was vetoed by the Governor last year. (AB
1623 would have authorized the designated county transportation
agencies in Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin and Napa Counties to
impose a $5 on motor vehicles registered within their respective
jurisdictions for a program to manage traffic congestion and
mitigate the environmental impacts of motor vehicles within
those counties. The Governor vetoed that bill, stating, "I do
not believe these fees should continue to be added without the
approval from the people upon whom the fee is imposed.")
The author contends that the state is facing a transportation
funding crisis while the Bay Area is facing a pollution crisis
resulting from the operation of motor vehicles. He cites
historical diversions of billions of dollars in Proposition 42
revenues from transportation programs earlier in the decade as
having delayed transportation projects and notes the deleterious
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effects of motor oil, vehicle exhaust and tire and brake residue
on air and water quality in the Bay Area. This bill attempts to
tackle these problems by providing the subject counties "an
optional tool to begin addressing traffic congestion and the
environmental needs of the Bay Area."
The Marin County Board of Supervisors, writing in support of
this bill, contends that it addresses "what is fast becoming a
transportation crisis throughout the State and in Marin County."
They point out that the bill requires, in the Bay Area, a
two-thirds vote of BAAQMD board members and that its
implementation "would also provide self-help counties like Marin
greater opportunities to compete for regional, State, and
Federal grants by providing additional matching funds."
The California Motor Car Dealers Association notes that when
vehicle owners pay their $31 annual registration fee, they may
(depending on their county) also be subject to fees for air
quality districts, the California Highway Patrol, abandoned
vehicle abatement, freeway call boxes, theft deterrence, and
fingerprint identification. Additionally, newer vehicles that
are exempt from Smog Check must pay a $12 smog abatement fee in
exchange for that privilege. Terming these as "hidden fees,"
the Association contends that motorists are already overburdened
and should not be subject to yet another fee without a popular
vote within each affected county.
The Stop Hidden Taxes Coalition, comprised of over 60 statewide
groups, regional organizations and private businesses, deems
this bill's proposed fee to be a tax increase and believes it
should be subject to a two-thirds legislative vote.
Legislative History : This bill is similar to AB 104 (Nation)
that was vetoed by Governor Davis in 2001 and AB 204 (Nation)
that died in the Senate Transportation Committee in 2004. Both
of those bills applied only to the nine Bay Area counties.
SB 658 (Kuehl - 2005) would have authorized a $6 vehicle
registration fee in coastal and Bay Area counties in order to
fund specified environmental mitigation projects. SB 680
(Simitian - 2005) would have authorized the Santa Clara Valley
Transportation Authority to adopt a $5 vehicle registration fee
for up to eight years to finance traffic and transportation
improvements in that county. AB 1208 (Yee - 2005) would have
authorized the San Francisco Board of Supervisors to impose a $5
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vehicle registration fee in order to fund street improvements.
All three of these bills were vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger,
using roughly the same veto message as was offered for AB 1623.
Double Referral : This bill is also referred to the Committee on
Local Government.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Transportation And Land Use Coalition (Sponsor)
East Bay Bicycle Coalition
East Bay Municipal Utility District
Marin County Board of Supervisors
Peninsula Bicycle & Pedestrian Coalition
Rail Passenger Association of California
Save the Bay
Sierra Club California
Opposition
Automobile Club of Southern California
California Motor Car Dealers Association
California State Automobile Association
Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association
Stop Hidden Taxes Coalition
Analysis Prepared by : Howard Posner / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093