BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de Le�n, Chair
AB 767 (Levine) - Vehicle registration surcharges: vehicle theft
programs.
Amended: June 12, 2013 Policy Vote: T&H 8-3
Urgency: No Mandate: No
Hearing Date: June 24, 2013
Consultant: Mark McKenzie
This bill does not meet the criteria for referral to the
Suspense File.
Bill Summary: AB 767 would authorize counties to increase the
fee imposed upon registration of a vehicle to fund vehicle theft
programs from $1 to $2. Upon approval of the increase that
applies to all vehicles, the amount imposed upon commercial
vehicles would increase from $2 to $4. The bill would also
delete the 2018 sunset date on the authorization to impose these
surcharges.
Fiscal Impact:
Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) implementation costs of
approximately $60,000 (Motor Vehicle Account). All initial
and ongoing administrative costs to DMV and the State
Controller's Office (SCO) are fully recovered from fee
revenues.
Potential local revenue gains of approximately $19 million
annually if all counties that currently impose the vehicle
theft surcharge approve an increase. This figure excludes
the counties of Los Angeles, San Bernardino, and San Diego,
all of which currently have the authority to increase the
surcharge (see below).
Background: Existing law, SB 2139 (Davis), Chapter 1670,
Statutes of 1990, authorizes 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. The fee is
imposed upon adoption of a resolution by the board of
supervisors. Owners of specified commercial vehicles pay an
additional $2. DMV collects these fees and the SCO distributes
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the revenues to participating counties. All administrative
costs are recovered from fees collected. Forty-seven counties
have adopted this surcharge, which generates approximately $31.5
million annually statewide, according to the latest report from
the SCO for the 2011-12 fiscal year. The authority to impose
and collect this additional surcharge sunsets on January 1,
2018.
Existing law approved last year, AB 1404 (Feuer), Chap775/2012,
authorizes the counties of Los Angeles, San Bernardino, and San
Diego to increase the vehicle registration surcharge for vehicle
theft prevention programs from $1 to $2, as specified. None of
these counties has exercised the authority to increase the
surcharges to date.
Proposed Law: AB 767 would authorize counties that have imposed
a $1 vehicle registration surcharge for vehicle theft prevention
to increase that surcharge to $2, upon adoption of a resolution
its board of supervisors. The $2 surcharge that is currently
imposed on commercial vehicles would automatically increase from
$2 to $4 upon approval of the resolution that would increase the
surcharge for all vehicles. Any county that does not currently
impose the surcharge would be authorized to impose either a $1
or $2 surcharge pursuant to the same procedures. The bill would
require the county board of supervisors to submit the resolution
to DMV at least six months prior to the operative date of the
fee imposition or increase.
Related Legislation: AB 878 (Davis), introduced in 2007,
included provisions that would have allowed all counties to
increase vehicle registration surcharges that fund programs for
abandoned vehicle abatement and vehicle theft, prevention,
investigation, and prosecution programs. AB 878 was vetoed by
Governor Schwarzenegger, who objected to the absence of explicit
voter approval for the fee increase.
Staff Comments: Forty-seven counties currently impose the
surcharge, using the revenue to conduct probation searches, fund
interagency sting operations, "chop-shop" investigations, and
other vehicle theft prevention programs. County activities
funded by the surcharge led to the recovery of more than 130,000
stolen vehicles statewide in 2012, with a total value of over
$150 million. This bill would allow counties to increase
vehicle theft abatement program surcharges to keep pace with
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rising program costs and account for the declining purchasing
power of the $1 surcharge.
AB 767 does not include an explicit requirement that proposals
to increase the vehicle theft abatement surcharge be presented
to county voters for approval. Counties that decide to impose
or increase the surcharge would make the determination of any
necessary voter approval requirements.