Vehicles: registration fees: nonresident owners.

Existing law prohibits a person from operating a motor vehicle upon a highway or in an offstreet public parking facility unless the motor vehicle is registered with the Department of Motor Vehicles. Existing law requires a vehicle owned by a person residing outside the state that is based in California or primarily used on California highways to be registered in the state. Existing law imposes, with specified exemptions, a fee on the registration of a motor vehicle. Existing law authorizes certain local governmental entities to impose additional registration-related fees for specified purposes. This bill would impose an additional fee, in an amount to be determined as specified, at the time of registration or renewal of registration on a motor vehicle registered to a nonresident owner who submits a registration or renewal of registration form with a residence or business address, as applicable, that is outside of the state. The bill would provide that the above fee applies to a motor vehicle that is initially registered or that has a registration expiring on or after July 1, 2013. The bill would, upon appropriation of the Legislature, make the fees collected available to the Department of Motor Vehicles to reimburse its costs associated with establishing the fee and costs incurred in carrying out the bill, and, in equal portion, to the Department of the California Highway Patrol to support databases and public warning systems used to alert motorists and the general public of specified information and the Department of Justice to maintain criminal justice databases designed to enhance the effectiveness of public safety warning systems. This bill would include a change in state statute that would result in a taxpayer paying a higher tax within the meaning of Section 3 of Article XIIIA of the California Constitution, and thus would require for passage the approval of 23 of the membership of each house of the Legislature.