SENATE BILL REPORT

                  ESHB 2417

              As Reported By Senate Committee On:

                 Transportation, March 4, 1998

Title:  An act relating to local vehicle license fees adopted to fund specific projects.

Brief Description:  Authorizing local vehicle license fees adopted to fund transportation projects.

Sponsors:  House Committee on Transportation Policy & Budget (originally sponsored by Representatives Pennington, Mielke, Hatfield, Doumit, Ogden, Carlson, Alexander and Hankins).

Brief History:

Committee Activity:  Transportation:  3/4/98 [DPA, DNP].

SENATE COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION

Majority Report:  Do pass as amended.

  Signed by Senators Prince, Chair; Benton, Vice Chair; Wood, Vice Chair; Horn, Morton, Newhouse, Oke and Sellar.

Minority Report:  Do not pass.

  Signed by Senators Goings, Haugen, Patterson, Prentice and Rasmussen.

Staff:  Jeff Doyle (786-7322)

Background:  Counties are authorized to impose a vehicle license fee of up to $15.  The fee must be levied countywide.  The fee is applied to all passenger-type vehicles, except "light" (6,000 pounds or less) pickup trucks.  The revenues from this fee must be used for transportation purposes.

There is no equivalent local option license fee available for cities to levy.

Summary of Amended Bill:  Cities located in Cowlitz County may impose the local option vehicle license fee within city boundaries upon a majority vote of citizens.  Residents living in the city boundary will not be charged the fee twice.  (The countywide fee will not apply within the city.)  The fee expires once the transportation project has been paid for.

Both the existing county local-option vehicle license fee and the new city-imposed vehicle license fee applies to passenger-type pickup trucks (6,000 pounds or less).  This corrects a drafting error in the original law.

The local option vehicle registration fee does not apply to vehicles within the city boundary when first acquired from a car dealership.

Amended Bill Compared to Substitute Bill:  The amendment clarifies that the fee will not be levied at a car dealership.

Appropriation:  None.

Fiscal Note:  Not requested.

Effective Date:  Ninety days after adjournment of session in which bill is passed.

Testimony For:  This will enable a local option license fee upon city residents to pay for the Allen Street bridge project.

Testimony Against:  None.

Testified:  Kathy Gerke, AWC.