FINAL BILL REPORT

EHB 1789

C 417 L 19

Synopsis as Enacted

Brief Description: Making adjustments to the service and filing fees for vehicle subagents and county auditors.

Sponsors: Representatives Fey, Barkis, Irwin, Dent, Young, Mead, Chambers, Stanford, Ryu, Caldier, Springer, Walsh, Kloba, Kirby, Wylie, Griffey, Stokesbary, Vick, Appleton, Lovick, Ortiz-Self, Schmick, Steele, Dye, Doglio, Goodman and Santos.

House Committee on Transportation

Background:

The Department of Licensing (DOL), county auditor or other agent, or subagent appointed by the DOL Director collects a service fee of:

• $12 for changes in a vehicle or vessel title certificate or for verification of a record and preparation of an affidavit of lost title; and

• $5 for a registration renewal, issuing a transit permit, accepting a vessel registration, accepting a report of sale, and accepting a transitional ownership record.

The service fees collected by the DOL or a county auditor or other agent must be deposited into the Capital Vessel Replacement Account. The service fees collected by subagents are self-retained.

A person pays a filing fee of:

• $3 for a vehicle registration or any other right to operate a vehicle on state highways, including transactions involving a report of sale, transitional ownership record, farm vehicle reduced gross weight license, or vessel registration; and

• $4 for a certificate of title for a vehicle or vessel.

The filing fee distribution is dependent on the entity that collects the fee and is as follows:

• If the filing fee is collected by a county auditor or other agent or subagent appointed by the DOL Director, the fee must be distributed to the county treasurer and credited to the county current expense fund.

• If the filing fee is collected by the Washington State Patrol, the fee must be deposited into the State Patrol Highway Account.

• If the filing fee is collected by the Washington State Department of Transportation, the fee must be deposited into the Motor Vehicle Fund.

• If the filing fee is collected by the DOL, the fee must be deposited into the Highway Safety Fund; however, $2 of the fee must be deposited into the Multimodal Transportation Account if the fee is collected in conjunction with collecting a registration fee for a commercial trailer or private use single-axle trailer or in conjunction with collecting a vehicle license fee by weight.

Summary:

The service fee for changes in a vehicle or vessel title certificate, changes in ownership for nontitled vehicles, and related transactions is increased to $15. The service fee for a vehicle or vessel registration renewal, issuing a transit permit, accepting a report of sale, or accepting a transitional ownership record is increased to $8. The filing fee for a vehicle or vessel certificate of title is increased to $5.50. The filing fee for a vehicle or vessel registration, report of sale, transitional ownership record, or farm vehicle reduced gross weight license is increased to $4.50. If the filing fee is paid to a county auditor or other agent or subagent appointed by the DOL Director, 50 cents of the filing fee must be remitted to the DOL, and the DOL must distribute an equal share of the remitted funds to each county at least quarterly.

Votes on Final Passage: