BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                  AB 767
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          Date of Hearing:   April 8, 2013

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
                               Bonnie Lowenthal, Chair
                 AB 767 (Levine) - As Introduced:  February 21, 2013
           
          SUBJECT  :  Vehicle registration fees: vehicle theft crimes

           SUMMARY  :  Authorizes counties to increase the tax on vehicle  
          registration for the prevention of vehicle theft crimes.   
          Specifically,  this bill  :  

          1)Authorizes every county to increase its motor vehicle fee from  
            $1 to $2, and its commercial vehicle service fee from $2 to  
            $4, upon adoption of a resolution by its board of supervisors,  
            and submission of the resolution to the Department of Motor  
            Vehicles (DMV).  

          2)Deletes the existing sunset date on the vehicle registration  
            surcharge authorization and makes these provisions operative  
            indefinitely.  

           EXISTING LAW  :

          1)Requires a vehicle registration fee of $46 to be paid for the  
            registration of every motor vehicle, except those expressly  
            exempt.  

          2)Authorizes a variety of additional fees that are related to  
            the operation of motor vehicles to be paid with the  
            registration, most particularly to address certain air quality  
            and law enforcement issues.  These fees support, among other  
            things, service authorities for freeway emergencies,  
            California Highway Patrol (CHP) staffing, and fingerprint  
            identification programs.  

          3)Authorizes, until January 1, 2018, counties to adopt an annual  
            $1 vehicle registration service charge for passenger vehicles  
            and an annual $2 vehicle registration service charge for  
            commercial vehicles where that charge is used exclusively to  
            fund programs that enhance the capacity of local police and  
            prosecutors to deter, investigate, and prosecute vehicle theft  
            crimes.  

          4)Authorizes, until January 1, 2018, the Counties of Los  








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            Angeles, San Bernardino, and San Diego, to increase the tax on  
            motor vehicle registration from $1 to $2, and would provide  
            that the service fee on commercial motor vehicles to increase  
            from $2 to $4, upon adoption of a resolution of its board of  
            supervisors.  Requires the resolution to be submitted to DMV  
            at least six months prior to the operative date of the tax  
            increase.  

          5)Requires counties that adopt these service charges to report  
            the expenditures for salaries and expenses, purchase of  
            equipment and supplies, and any other expenditure listed by  
            type, with an explanatory comment.  Provides that resulting  
            revenues are continuously appropriated, without regard to  
            fiscal years, for the administrative costs of the California  
            State Controller (Controller), and for disbursement by the  
            Controller to each county that has adopted such a resolution,  
            based upon the number of vehicles registered, or whose  
            registration is renewed, to an address within that county.  

          6)Requires revenues so allocated to be expended exclusively to  
            fund programs that enhance the capacity of local police and  
            prosecutors to deter, investigate, and prosecute vehicle theft  
            crimes.  However, in any county with a population of 250,000  
            or less, the money must be expended exclusively for those  
            vehicle theft crime programs and for the prosecution of crimes  
            involving driving while under the influence of alcohol or  
            drugs, or both, or vehicular manslaughter, or any combination  
            of those crimes.  

           FISCAL EFFECT  :  Unknown  
           
           COMMENTS  :  Existing law establishes a basic vehicle registration  
          fee of $46, plus a $23 surcharge for additional personnel for  
          the CHP, for the new or renewal registration of most vehicles or  
          trailer coaches.  Existing law also authorizes local agencies to  
          impose separate vehicle registration fee surcharges in their  
          respective jurisdictions for a variety of special programs, such  
          as abating abandoned vehicles and deterring, investigating, and  
          prosecuting vehicle theft.  

          The vehicle theft program may be established in counties if  
          approved through a resolution by a county board of supervisors  
          that imposes a $1 surcharge on every new or renewal vehicle  
          registration, plus another $2 on commercial vehicles.  Smaller  
          counties adopting vehicle theft programs (those with a  








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          population of less than 250,000) may also use the resulting  
          funds to prosecute specified driving under the influence and  
          vehicular manslaughter crimes.  Each quarter, participating  
          counties must submit to CHP a report on the expenditures and  
          activities as well as submitting a fiscal year end report to the  
          Controller.  Separately, the Counties of Los Angeles, San  
          Bernardino, and San Diego are authorized to increase the motor  
          vehicle fee from $1 to $2, and the service fee on commercial  
          motor vehicles from $2 to $4, upon adoption of a resolution of  
          its board of supervisors.  

          This bill extends statewide to all the counties the  
          authorization to increase the motor vehicle fee from $1 to $2,  
          and the service fee on commercial motor vehicles from $2 to $4.   
          Further, this bill eliminates the January 1, 2018 sunset date on  
          the vehicle theft prevention fee.  

          The author indicates that the county vehicle theft prevention  
          programs are an "incredibly effective tool for combatting crime.  
           The activities funded by this fee produce a remarkable return  
          on taxpayers investment, the 47 counties with a surcharge  
          collected a combined $31 million to fund these programs, program  
          activities in turn recovered a combined $151 million in assets  
          and recovered more than 130,000 vehicles.  This is an example of  
          government working well.  AB 767 gives local law enforcement  
          agencies the tools they need to fight vehicle theft in their  
          communities."  

          Proposition 26 requires that any "change in statute which  
          results in a taxpayer paying a higher tax must be imposed by an  
          act passed by not less than two-thirds of all members elected to  
          each of the two houses of the Legislature."  This bill does not  
          result in a taxpayer paying a higher tax but delegates to the  
          separate county boards of supervisors the authority to impose a  
          higher surcharge on vehicle registrations to fund a specific  
          government function.  Ultimately, the counsel for each county  
          would have to determine a vote threshold at the county level.   
          So while this bill is a majority vote measure in the  
          Legislature, the local action to increase the registration  
          surcharge may ultimately require a two-thirds vote of the  
          electorate in a county.  

          Writing in opposition to this bill, the California Taxpayers  
          Association indicates "For years, hidden taxes have frustrated  
          voters.  In 2010, voters passed Proposition 26 to stop the  








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          Legislature from disguising fees as taxes.  AB 767 ignores the  
          voters and undermines the spirit of 
          Proposition 26.  Vehicle-theft prevention programs are important  
          to public safety.  However, the Legislature should not fund  
          these efforts through a tax disguised as a fee intended to cover  
          the costs of registering a vehicle.  

           Legislative history  :  AB 1324 (Skinner), of 2013, would  
          authorize the Alameda County Board of Supervisors to increase  
          the tax on vehicle registrations for the prevention of vehicle  
          theft crimes.  That bill is scheduled to be heard in this  
          committee next week.  

          AB 1404 (Feuer) Chapter 775, Statutes of 2012, authorizes the  
          Counties of Los Angeles, San Bernardino, and San Diego to  
          increase their $1 vehicle registration surcharges for vehicle  
          theft prevention to $2, and their commercial surcharge from $2  
          to $4.  

          AB 1768 (Davis) of 2012, would have allowed for a $3 fee  
          applying only to Los Angeles County.  That bill failed passage  
          in the Assembly Transportation Committee.  

          AB 286 (Salas) Chapter 230, Statutes of 2009, extends the sunset  
          date to the current date of January 1, 2018.  

          AB 860 (Salas) of 2008, would have extended the sunset for the  
          vehicle theft program (but did not contain an increase in the  
          surcharge).  That bill was vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger  
          with his generic veto message referencing the budget delay.  

          AB 878 (Davis) of 2007, a similar bill that was vetoed by  
          Governor Schwarzenegger who indicated that the voters should  
          decide on the vehicle registration increase.  

          SB 2139 (Davis), Chapter 1670, Statutes of 1990, establishes the  
          initial vehicle theft crime prevention program funded through  
          vehicle registration fees.  

           Double-referral  :  This bill is double referred to the Assembly  
          Local Government Committee.  

           REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION  :   

           Support 








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          California State Sheriffs' Association (co-sponsor)
          California Police Chief's Association (co-sponsor)
          Alameda County Sheriff's Office
          California District Attorneys Association
          California New Car Dealers Association

           Opposition 
           
          Cal-Tax
          Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association
           

          Analysis Prepared by :   Ed Imai / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093