BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 767
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Date of Hearing: May 8, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
AB 767 (Levine) - As Amended: April 29, 2013
Policy Committee:
TransportationVote:10-6
Local Government 6-2
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill makes permanent the provisions of law allowing Los
Angeles, San Bernardino, and San Diego counties to increase the
surcharge on vehicle registration from $1 to $2 and the
commercial vehicle service fee from $2 to $4 to fund law
enforcement and prosecution efforts to deter, investigate and
prosecute vehicle theft crimes, and expands this authorization
to all counties.
FISCAL EFFECT
According to the State Controller's annual report, the 47
counties that have adopted a $1 additional registration fee
generated revenue totaling $31.5 million in 2011-12. This bill
would allow doubling of this fee and thus a doubling of the
annual revenue as an ongoing source of funds to combat vehicle
theft. Three counties currently have authority to double this
fee, however (see below), so the net potential fee increase for
the remaining 44 counties is $19.2 million annually, based on
current vehicle registrations.
COMMENTS
1)Background . SB 2139 (Davis)/Chapter 1670 of 1990 first
authorized counties to establish a separate annual $1 vehicle
registration surcharge to fund programs that enhance the
capacity of local police and prosecutors to deter,
investigate, and prosecute vehicle theft crimes. Owners of
AB 767
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specified commercial vehicles pay an additional $2. DMV
collects these fees and the State Controller's Office
distributes the revenues to participating counties. All
administrative costs are recovered from fees collected.
AB 1404 (Feuer)/Chapter 775 of 2012, authorized the Counties
of Los Angeles, San Bernardino, and San Diego to double the
vehicle registration fee (from $1 to $2), and the service fee
on commercial motor vehicles (from $2 to $4) for vehicle theft
prevention. AB 1324 extends the authority for this additional
surcharge to Alameda County. The authority for both the base
surcharge above and these additional surcharges sunsets
January 1, 2018.
2)Purpose . This bill, sponsored by the California State
Sheriff's Association, eliminates the sunset date of the above
fee authority and extends authority for the additional
surcharge to all counties. According to the author, "Vehicle
theft prevention programs are an incredibly effective tool for
combatting crime. The activities funded by this fee produce a
remarkable return on taxpayer's investment. In the last fiscal
year, counties maintaining a vehicle theft prevention
surcharge collected a combined $31 million to fund theft
prevention programs; program activities in turn recovered a
combined $151 million in stolen vehicle assets. This bill
gives local law enforcement agencies the tools they need to
fight vehicle theft in their communities."
3)Opposition . The California Taxpayers Association argues that
subsuming the funding of vehicle theft prevention into vehicle
registration fees "ignores the importance of a transparent
revenue structure."
4)Related Legislation . AB 1324 (Skinner), also on today's
committee agenda, extends to Alameda County the addition fee
authority provided to Los Angeles, San Bernardino, and San
Diego Counties.
Analysis Prepared by : Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081