BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó






           SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE       BILL NO: SB 1183
          SENATOR MARK DESAULNIER, CHAIRMAN              AUTHOR:  DESAULNIER
                                                         VERSION: 4/21/14
          Analysis by:  Nathan Phillips                  FISCAL:  yes
          Hearing date:  April 29, 2014

          SUBJECT:

          Vehicle registration fees:  surcharge for local bicycle  
          infrastructure

          DESCRIPTION:

          This bill authorizes local governments to impose vehicle  
          registration surcharges for the purpose of funding local bicycle  
          infrastructure improvements and maintenance.

          ANALYSIS:

          Existing law establishes a basic vehicle registration fee of  
          $46, plus a $23 surcharge for additional personnel for the  
          California Highway Patrol for the new or renewal registration of  
          most vehicles.  Existing law also authorizes local agencies to  
          impose separate vehicle registration fee surcharges in their  
          respective jurisdictions for a variety of special programs,  
          including up to $2 for programs to address vehicle thefts, up to  
          $19 to mitigate vehicular air emissions, and $1 to abate abandon  
          vehicles.

           This bill  authorizes cities, counties, and regional park  
          districts to impose a surcharge of up to $5 on motor vehicles  
          registered within their jurisdictions and use the resulting  
          revenues to maintain and improve public bicycle paths and  
          trails.
          
          COMMENTS:

           1.Purpose  .  In a 2002 National Highway Transportation Safety  
            Administration survey, seven in 10 people said that they would  
            like to bike more than they do now, but less than half of  
            those surveyed were satisfied with how their communities are  
            designed for bicycling.  The public's desire for more bikable  
            communities aligns with large safety benefits associated with  







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            use of bike paths and trails: A 2012 study in the American  
            Journal of Public Health found that bicyclists using  
            separated, protected bicycle tracks had a nine-fold decrease  
            in injury risk due to accidents compared to cyclists sharing  
            roads with motor vehicles.  In addition to safety benefits,  
            bike infrastructure supports the state's goal to promote  
            walking and biking through the state's Active Transportation  
            Program, and also supports the objectives of California's  
            landmark Sustainable Communities Act, SB 375.

            Despite its clear benefits and alignment with state goals,  
            bike infrastructure suffers from a lack of funding.  Unlike  
            roadway infrastructure, which is supported by a variety of  
            fuel and motor vehicle taxes, bike trail infrastructure lacks  
            a stable source of funding.  This bill creates a continuing  
            funding option for communities that, by supermajority vote,  
            elect to impose a motor vehicle registration surcharge to  
            support bicycle infrastructure.

           2.Department of Motor Vehicles to administer  .  The Department of  
            Motor Vehicles (DMV) routinely administers local vehicle  
            registration surcharges and distributes net revenues back to  
            local jurisdictions.  Local vehicle registration surcharge  
            programs that DMV currently administers include ones that  
            support, for example, regional air quality programs.  Because  
            DMV has already put in place mechanisms for collecting,  
            processing, and distributing local vehicle registration  
            surcharge revenues, DMV's cost to implement the program would  
            be low and concentrated in the first year to set up the  
            programming.  All of DMV's collection costs would come from  
            the proceeds of the local surcharge.

           3.Is this an entitlement for a few or a benefit that can be  
            shared by many  ?  Most bicyclists are also motorists, and most  
            motorists live in a household that has at least one bike.   
            According to a 2001 National Household Travel Survey, nine in  
            10 U.S. households own a bike, indicating a large if latent  
            potential for bicycling for recreation or practical  
            transportation.  The costs of this program are thus shared by  
            those who currently bike and drive, but the benefits extend  
            far beyond those who currently bike regularly.  To that point,  
            research shows that when bike infrastructure is created, new  
            bicycle riders come.  A widely cited study of 35 major  







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            metropolitan areas in the U.S. found what cities like  
            Portland, Oregon or Davis, California have long observed: that  
            increased bike infrastructure significantly drives increased  
            ridership.  That study found that each additional mile of bike  
            lane per square mile of city area was correlated with a one  
            percent increase in workers commuting by bicycle.  In a large  
            metropolitan area, this equates to thousands of new  
            bicyclists.  These new bicyclists not only enjoy health and  
            safety benefits of biking and well-designed bike  
            infrastructure, but reduce traffic congestion and air  
            pollution by taking cars off the road, providing a further  
            benefit for those who happen to drive.

           4.Opposition  .  The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association (HJTA)  
            expressed opposition to an earlier version of this bill.  The  
            amendments taken on April 21 directly address the key concern  
            raised, but between those amendments and the writing of this  
            analysis, staff has not received a new letter from the HJTA.

           5.Vote of the people .  The people passed Proposition 26 in  
            November 2010 and so amended the California Constitution to  
            require 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 cities,  
            counties, and regional park districts the authority to impose  
            a higher surcharge on vehicle registrations to fund a specific  
            government function.  Ultimately, local government counsels  
            will have to determine a vote threshold at the city, county,  
            or district level.  So while this bill is a majority vote  
            measure in the Legislature, the local action to increase the  
            registration surcharge may be a two-thirds vote of the local  
            electorate.

          


          POSITIONS:  (Communicated to the committee before noon on  
          Wednesday,                                             April 23,  
          2014.)

               SUPPORT:  East Bay Regional Park District (sponsor)







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                         California Park and Recreation Society

               OPPOSED:  Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association