BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 1209
Page 1
Date of Hearing: June 25, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
Bonnie Lowenthal, Chair
SB 1209 (Runner) - As Amended: June 12, 2012
SENATE VOTE : 38-0
SUBJECT : Nonresident vehicle owners: additional vehicle
registration fee
SUMMARY : Requires nonresident vehicle owners to pay
registration fees commensurate with those paid by California
residents. Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires an additional fee to be paid at the time of
registration or renewal of registration of a motor vehicle
registered to an owner who lists a residence or business
address that is outside of the state.
2)Makes available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, and
after deduction of amounts sufficient to reimburse the
Department of Motor Vehicles' (DMV) for its costs in carrying
out this bill's requirements, 50% of the net fee revenue for
the California Highway Patrol (CHP) to be used to support
databases and public warning systems used to alert motorists
and the general public of abductions, shootings, and other
imminent threats to public safety, and 50% for the California
Department of Justice to be used to maintain criminal justice
databases designed to enhance the effectiveness of public
safety warning systems.
3)Makes these provisions operative, and applies them to vehicles
that are subject to registration requirements and are applying
for an initial registration or registration renewal, on or
after July 1, 2013.
4)Specifies that the additional fee, as determined appropriate
by DMV, will either be $10 or the average additional vehicle
registration fee surcharges imposed by local California
entities in the immediately preceding fiscal year, as
determined by DMV.
EXISTING LAW :
SB 1209
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1)Establishes a basic vehicle registration fee of $46, plus a
$23 surcharge for additional personnel for the CHP, and
authorizes local agencies to impose separate vehicle
registration fee surcharges in their respective jurisdictions
for a variety of special programs, including $1 for
fingerprint identification programs, up to $19 for air quality
programs, and $1 for programs to dispose of abandoned
vehicles.
2)Requires vehicle owners who are located out of state but
registering vehicles in California to pay the $46 basic
registration, plus the $23 surcharge for CHP, but exempts them
from paying any of the locally-imposed registration
surcharges, due to out-of-state owners not being within the
jurisdiction of any particular California local agency.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations Committee
analysis one-time DMV programming costs of at least $194,288 to
establish the new fee for imposition only on vehicles registered
to nonresident owners. Ongoing DMV administrative costs will
likely be in the range of $100,000 annually and will be deducted
from fees collected. There will also be an unknown fee revenue
gain, likely in the range of $1.7 million annually, distributed
evenly to the CHP and the California Department of Justice.
COMMENTS : The author introduced this bill to add a surcharge to
the registration fees paid by nonresident owners of California
vehicles equal to the average fee paid by California residents.
This bill divides the resulting revenues equally between the CHP
and the California Department of Justice to support programs
such as Amber Alert and Blue Alert that warn motorists of
emergencies on our roadways, particularly those related to child
abductions or criminals in flight.
The author notes that nonresident vehicle owners use the same
streets and highways and receive the same services as the
California residents and business owners, who, she points out,
pay approximately $10 per year in county-based fees. These fees
are paid annually at the time of registration for over 31
million vehicles and are applied to programs that support stolen
vehicle recovery, air quality, and fingerprinting programs. The
author believes there is no policy-based rationale for excluding
nonresidents from paying a reciprocal fee equal to the average
fee paid by California residents.
SB 1209
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DMV reports that for calendar year 2011, there were about
172,000 California vehicles (cars, trucks, and motorcycles)
registered to an out-of-state address. In addition, DMV
confirms that no county fee is charged to a vehicle registered
to an out-of-state address. It is worth noting, however, that
assessing fees on out-of-state vehicle owners, which are
different from those assessed on in-state owners, based solely
on residency could raise constitutional issues. In the 1990s,
California assessed a $300 "smog impact fee" on vehicles brought
in from others states and registered in California. Ultimately,
the California Supreme Court, in Woosley vs. State of California
(1992) 3 Cal. 4th 758, 13 Cal. Rptr. 2d 30, deemed this fee
unconstitutional and required California to refund the fees
paid, plus interest. Further, California law authorizes
California to enter into the International Registration Plan
(IRP), which provides a registration system for entities
involved in interstate trucking. California entered the IRP
over 10 years ago; therefore this bill, as it applies to IRP
vehicles, could be deemed to be preempted by federal law.
Hence, while as a matter of equity and as a source of revenue
generation, this bill is eminently defensible, it is unknown
whether it can pass judicial scrutiny. That is a question beyond
the scope of this committee and one that will ultimately be
raised and decided in court, as there will surely be a legal
challenge should the bill be enacted.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Peace Officers Research Association of California
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Howard Posner / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093