BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1989
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Date of Hearing: April 24, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON WATER, PARKS AND WILDLIFE
Jared Huffman, Chair
AB 1989 (Carter) - As Amended: April 18, 2012
SUBJECT : State Park System: fee on sale of bicycles for trail
maintenance
SUMMARY : This bill imposes a $2 surcharge on the sale of every
new bicycle in California for the purpose of bicycle trail and
path maintenance. Specifically, this bill :
1)Imposes a surcharge of $2 on the sale of every new bicycle in
California beginning July 1, 2013.
2)Gives bicycle surcharge administration and collection
authority to the State Board of Equalization (BOE) and
specifically:
a) Requires the bicycle surcharge be paid quarterly with an
electronic filing of the return.
b) Allows the BOE to prescribe, adopt and enforce
regulations relating to the administration and enforcement
of this bill including but not limited to, collections,
reporting, refunds and appeals.
c) Provides additional procedures for the collection of
fees and surcharges associated with delinquency or
non-compliance.
3)Creates the State Park Bicycle Facilities Fund and requires:
a) All revenues, interest, penalties, and other amounts
collected related to the bicycle surcharge fee to be
deposited in the fund.
b) Reimbursements to be made from the fund to the BOE for
expenses incurred for administration and collection of the
bicycle surcharge fee.
c) All remaining monies in the State Park Bicycle
Facilities Fund be used by the Department of Parks and
Recreation (DPR) where:
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i) 60% of the monies are place in a Bicycle Trail
Grant Program Fund for the establishment of a local
assistance program to distribute grants on a competitive
basis to eligible cities, counties, joint powers
authorities, districts and nonprofit organizations for
creation or maintenance of bicycle trails and paths,
signage and facilities. Regulations for the procedures of
the grant program will be specified by the director of
DPR.
ii) 40% of the monies will be used for:
1) Maintenance of bicycle trails, paths and
signage of such trails and paths within the California
state park system, which includes state parks, state
beaches, state historic parks, state recreation areas,
and state natural reserves.
2) Maintenance of related bicycle facilities,
including but not limited to bicycle parking
facilities, within the California state park system.
EXISTING LAW
1)Gives the BOE authority to administer and collect taxes and
fees.
2)States that it is the policy of the state to provide for the
development and maintenance of a statewide system of
recreational and interpretive trails.
3)Requires DPR to administer, protect and develop the state park
system, as well as ensure that the parks provide recreation to
the people of California.
4)Upon appropriation by the Legislature, makes certain funds
available for use by DPR for state park planning, acquisition,
development projects, and maintenance.
5)Provides that funding for public bike paths is currently
available through Federal, state, local and private monies.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
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COMMENTS :
People ride bicycles for many reasons including recreation,
exercise or health reasons, as a competitive sport, personal
errands, and commuting to school or work. The most common
facilities used by bicyclists (in descending order) include
paved roads, sidewalks, bicycle paths/walking paths/trails,
shoulders of paved roads, bicycle lanes on roads, and unpaved
roads. The League of American Bicyclists ranks California the
20th Bicycle Friendly State in the country where they have
assessed a state's bicycle related legislation, policies and
programs, infrastructure, education and encouragement,
evaluation and planning, and enforcement. Specifically,
California received an "F" for infrastructure, which is a
measure of the infrastructure and how it's funded and reflects
data on specific performance measurements, i.e. in the amount of
facilities and spending amounts for bicycling. Other examples
include the percentage of state highways with shoulders, signed
bike routes, trail miles, and bicycle-related project obligation
rates for available federal funding.
In addition to statewide bicycle paths and trails, there are an
estimated 5,095 non-motor trail miles in the California state
park system of which 3,428 are available for use by bicyclists.
These trails are enjoyed throughout California at state parks,
state beaches, and state recreation areas.
The three most common general types of public use facilities
within the state park system that are used by visitors include
those for overnight use, for picnicking and for moving about the
park on trails, by means of foot, horse or bicycle. 67% of
trails within the state park system are open to bicycles with 27
% designated for multi-use (pedestrian, horse, and bicycle), 7 %
designated for bicycle and pedestrian use, and 33% are
maintenance roads open for use as trails. The author of this
bill notes that the maintenance and upkeep of bicycle trails
within the state park system is essential to ensuring the
preservation of these existing trails for current and future
generations.
The budget for the state park system has decreased at both the
state and federal levels, while bicycle use for recreation and
transportation in California has increased. The current budget
has caused a backlog of $1.3 billion in deferred maintenance
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projects within the state park system and includes a backlog of
trail maintenance. Since visitor safety is the number 1 issue
for DPR, and many trails are older structures that are subject
to environmental conditions, trail maintenance is an important
issue for DPR. In 2011, DPR spent over $1.1 million on trail
maintenance.
According to the author, this bill is estimated to generate $3.9
million per year, of which a portion would be used for trail
maintenance as specified and an unknown portion would be used
for administrative costs by the BOE. Because most retailers
already have the system, capacity and means of submitting
reports and fees to the BOE, the cost to retailers is estimated
to be small.
As defined in the bill, "bicycle" means a device upon which any
person may ride, propelled exclusively by human power through a
belt, chain, or gears, and having either two or three wheels in
a tandem or tricycle arrangement. Thus, all bicycles larger than
a child's tricycle will have the imposed surcharge. The
surcharge is a set price making it a higher percentage of the
purchase price on less expensive bikes. For example, a $40 bike
would have a surcharge of 5% of the purchase price whereas a
$2,000 bike would have a surcharge of 0.1% of the purchase
price.
Supporting Arguments: The author emphasizes in support of this
bill that it is known that bicycling is found to contribute to
positive physical and mental health and studies show that
bicycle trails encourage tourism and generate local business
revenues. Additional supporters state that "Parks are a vital
piece of California history and it does not do them justice to
let them fall into an irreversible disrepair...bicycle trails
have been proven to increase tourism, which helps to stimulate
the local economy?this bill will help to ensure the betterment
of the environment, the economy, and the overall quality of life
of the people of California". Further, supporters assert that
this bill will keep bicycle trails, paths and facilities
maintained and in safe condition for all Californians and the
millions of tourists who use the state park bicycle trails every
year.
Opposing Arguments: Opponents state, "AB 1989 is not so much a
surcharge as it is a tax". And, while bicycle advocates agree
that funding of bicycle paths and trails is important, they
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disagree that a new fee on bicycles is an appropriate way to
raise the funds for this purpose. "Many Californians are
turning to bicycles for transportation to avoid the high cost of
gasoline and car ownership. We should encourage this very
healthy response to difficult times, instead of tacking a fee
onto the cost of a new bike."
Additional issues / questions for the Committee to consider:
This bill would be the first use charge placed onto the purchase
of bicycles in California . Since 1988, the city of Colorado
Springs, CO has had a city ordinance for a bicycle excise tax
whereby an excise tax is placed on the purchase of all new
bicycles for bicycle lanes, trails and improvements to roadways.
In the first 20 years, the tax raised $2 million in revenue. In
2011, a bill similar to AB 1989 was introduced in Maine, where
the bill proposed to impose a 2% surcharge on the purchase of
all bikes for the building, improving, and maintaining of
bikeways along the state's roads. The bill was unanimously
defeated. The idea of a surcharge on bicycle purchases in Oregon
has been discussed, but no legislation was found.
Texas passed legislation in 2007 that amended the tax code such
that 94% of sales tax revenue on sporting goods was credited to
the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and 6% was credited to
the Texas Historical Commission. The intent was that "sales tax
revenue generated from the sale of "sporting goods" must fund,
at a minimum, the appropriations made by the 80th Legislature
regarding state parks, local parks, historic sites, coastal
management programs, and water planning."
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
(AFL-CIO)
California State Parks Foundation
Friends of Allensworth
Sierra Club
Several Individuals
Opposition
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California Bicycle Coalition
California Chamber of Commerce
Analysis Prepared by : Mandy Arens / W., P. & W. / (916)
319-2096