BILL ANALYSIS �
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