BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE BILL NO: Ab 286
SENATOR ALAN LOWENTHAL, CHAIRMAN AUTHOR: Salas
VERSION: 6/23/09
Analysis by: Carrie Cornwell FISCAL: yes
Hearing date: June 30, 2009
SUBJECT:
Vehicle registration fee surcharges: vehicle theft programs
DESCRIPTION:
This bill extends from 2010 to 2018 the sunset date on the
authority of counties to impose vehicle registration surcharges
to fund vehicle theft prevention, investigation, and prosecution
programs.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law establishes a basic vehicle registration fee for
the new or renewal registration of most vehicles of $34, plus a
$22 surcharge for additional personnel for the California
Highway Patrol (CHP). Existing law also authorizes local
agencies to impose separate vehicle registration fee surcharges
in their respective jurisdictions for a variety of special
programs, including until January 1, 2010, $1 for a program to
deter, investigate, and prosecute vehicle theft.
A county board of supervisors may by resolution impose this $1
surcharge on every new or renewal vehicle registration, plus an
extra $2 on commercial vehicles, within the county to fund a
program to deter, investigate, and prosecute vehicle theft.
Smaller counties, those with a population of less than 250,000,
may also use these funds to prosecute specified driving under
the influence and vehicular manslaughter crimes.
The Department of Motor Vehicles collects the surcharge and
remits those fees, after deducting its own administrative costs,
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to the State Controller. Funds received are continuously
appropriated and are disbursed by the Controller to each
participating county based on the number of registered vehicles
within the county.
Each quarter a participating county must submit to CHP a report
on the expenditures and activity, and by August 31st every year,
each county must submit a report to the State Controller that
describes for the fiscal year that just ended:
Total revenues received from the surcharge by the county;
Total expenditures by the county on eligible programs;
A summary of vehicle theft abatement activities and other
programs funded by the surcharge;
The total number of stolen vehicles recovered and their value;
The total number of vehicles stolen and a comparison to the
preceding fiscal year; and
Any unexpended surcharge revenues received.
The Controller may suspend collection of the fee if the local
agency is not reporting as required in law or is not expending
funds as authorized. The Controller annually reports to the
Legislature on this program.
This bill :
1)Extends the sunset date on the $1 vehicle registration
surcharge for vehicle theft prevention from January 1, 2010 to
January 1, 2018.
2)Expands the information that a county must include in its
fiscal year end report so that it provides a detailed
accounting of the funds received and expended in the preceding
fiscal year, including expenditures made for salaries and
expenses, for purchases of equipment and supplies, and any
other expenditures made with a comment explaining those.
COMMENTS:
1.Purpose . SB 2139 (Davis), Chapter 1670, Statutes of 1990,
authorized counties to impose a $1 surcharge on vehicle
registrations to fund vehicle theft programs. Since then, the
cost of these programs has far outpaced the increased number
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of registered vehicles on the road.
Forty-seven counties impose the surcharge, including Los
Angeles County, where in 1993, the Board of Supervisors
imposed a $1 fee to create a vehicle theft program called the
Taskforce for Regional Auto-theft Prevention (TRAP).
TRAP is a multi-agency task force that investigates,
prosecutes and deters vehicle theft and fraud on a coordinated
and cooperative basis. The author and sponsors report that
TRAP has been highly successful in combating vehicle theft and
fraud by focusing on organized vehicle theft rings, "chop
shops," international auto theft rings that steal vehicles and
ship them to other countries, individuals who obtain vehicles
by fraud, and other forms of vehicle theft.
Los Angeles County reports that since 1993, TRAP has made over
7,500 arrests, recovered over 20,000 vehicles worth nearly
$355 million, and prosecuted over 4,000 cases of automobile
theft. In recent years TRAP has had to reduce the number of
personnel assigned to the program which has negatively
impacted TRAP's ability to effectively combat auto theft in
Los Angeles County.
San Diego County's Regional Auto Theft Taskforce (RATT) is a
similar multi-jurisdictional task force that works to combat
car theft and is funded with the $1 surcharge there. Last year
RATT recovered 319 stolen vehicles worth over $3.3 million and
successfully prosecuted over 100 cases.
2.Previous legislation . Since the initial authorization of the
vehicle theft prevention surcharge in 1990, the Legislature
has extended the sunset date on the surcharge several times,
most recently through AB 1663 (Dutra), Chapter 514, Statutes
of 2004, which moved the sunset date from 2005 to 2010.
In 2007, the Los Angeles County Sheriff sponsored AB 878
(Davis), which Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed. AB 878 would
have allowed a county to increase the surcharge it imposes on
vehicle registrations within its jurisdiction from $1 to $2 to
fund vehicle theft prevention, investigation, and prosecution
programs. AB 878 would have also extended the sunset on this
program until 2013. According to his veto message, Governor
Schwarzenegger vetoed AB 878, because it did not contain a
provision requiring voter approval of the surcharge increase.
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In response to the governor's veto of AB 878, the author last
year introduced AB 860 (Salas) simply to extend the sunset
date, but not to increase the surcharge, and thus ensure that
funding does not cease altogether for local vehicle theft
deterrence programs. This bill is identical to AB 860, which
passed this committee on May 13, 2008 by a 10 - 2 vote. The
governor vetoed AB 860, along with many others, due to the
historic delay in passing the 2008-2009 State Budget. He
issued a generic veto message for all those bills.
Assembly Votes:
Floor: 48 - 29
Appr: 12 - 5
Trans: 8 - 5
L Gov: 5 - 2
POSITIONS: (Communicated to the Committee before noon on
Wednesday,
June 24, 2009)
SUPPORT: San Diego County District Attorney's Office
(sponsor)
California State Sheriff's Association
(co-sponsor)
Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office
(co-sponsor)
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department
(co-sponsor)
San Diego County Sheriff's Department
(co-sponsor)
AAA Northern California
Alameda County Sheriff
Amador County Sheriff
American Federation of State, County, and
Municipal Employees (AFSCME)
Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs
Automobile Club of Southern California
Butte County Sheriff
California District Attorneys Association
California New Car Dealers Association
California State Association of Counties
California State Automobile Association (AAA)
California State Sheriff's Association
Chief of Police, City of Alhambra
Chief of Police, City of Arcadia
Chief of Police, City of Azusa
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Chief of Police, City of Baldwin Park
Chief of Police, City of Burbank
Chief of Police, City of Covina
Chief of Police, City of Culver City
Chief of Police, City of Downey
Chief of Police, City of El Monte
Chief of Police, City of Gardena
Chief of Police, City of Glendale
Chief of Policy, City of Hawthorne
Chief of Police, City of Inglewood
Chief of Police, City of Irwindale
Chief of Police, City of La Verne
Chief of Police, City of Long Beach
Chief of Police, City of Manhattan Beach
Chief of Police, City of Monrovia
Chief of Police, City of Montebello
Chief of Police, City of Monterey Park
Chief of Police, City of Pomona
Chief of Police, City of Redondo Beach
Chief of Police, City of San Fernando
Chief of Police, City of San Gabriel
Chief of Police, City of San Marino
Chief of Police, City of Santa Monica
Chief of Police, City of Sierra Madre
Chief of Police, City of Signal Hill
Chief of Police, City of South Pasadena
Chief of Police, City of Torrance
Chief of Police, City of Vernon
Chief of Police, City of West Covina
Chief of Police, City of Whittier
City of Chula Vista
City of Sacramento
County of Contra Costa
Contra Costa County Sheriff
Butte County Sheriff
Del Norte County Sheriff
El Dorado County Sheriff
Fresno County Sheriff
League of California Cities
Lo Jack Corporation
Los Angeles County
Mariposa County Sheriff
National Insurance Crime Bureau
Sacramento County Sheriff
San Diego County Sheriff
San Diego District Attorney
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Santa Barbara County Sheriff
Santa Cruz County Sheriff
Shasta County Sheriff
State Association of County Auditors
Tuolumne County Sheriff
Ventura County Sheriff
Yolo County Sheriff
OPPOSED: California Taxpayers Association
Howard Jarvis Tax Payers Association
Stop the Hidden Taxes Coalition