BP BHEAD INT S [atlas:bill]

AN ACT Relating to evasion of vehicle licensing fees; and amending RCW 46.16.010 and 46.68.250.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

Sec. 1. RCW 46.16.010 and 1996 c 184 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) It is unlawful for a person to operate any vehicle over and along a public highway of this state without first having obtained and having in full force and effect a current and proper vehicle license and display vehicle license number plates therefor as by this chapter provided. Failure to make initial registration before operation on the highways of this state is a misdemeanor, and any person convicted thereof shall be punished by a fine of no less than three hundred thirty dollars, no part of which may be suspended or deferred. Failure to renew an expired registration before operation on the highways of this state is a traffic infraction.

(2) The licensing of a vehicle in another state by a resident of this state, as defined in RCW 46.16.028, evading the payment of any tax or license fee imposed in connection with registration, is a gross misdemeanor punishable as follows:

(a) For a first offense, up to one year in the county jail and a fine equal to twice the amount of delinquent taxes and fees, no part of which may be suspended or deferred;

(b) For a second or subsequent offense, up to one year in the county jail and a fine equal to four times the amount of delinquent taxes and fees, no part of which may be suspended or deferred;

(c) For fines levied under (b) of this subsection, an amount equal to the avoided taxes and fees owed shall be deposited in the vehicle licensing fraud account created in the state treasury;

(d) The avoided taxes and fees shall be deposited and distributed in the same manner as if the taxes and fees were properly paid in a timely fashion.

(3) In all cases where a person is found to have evaded the payment of taxes or license fees imposed in connection with the registration of a vehicle based upon information collected and presented to the department of revenue by another person, an additional fee of five hundred dollars shall be imposed. The fee shall be deposited into the vehicle licensing fraud account created under RCW 46.68.250. Additionally, twenty-five percent of all of the fines imposed under subsection (2)(a) through (d) of this section must be delivered to the individual that collected and presented the information concerning the evasion of the taxes or license fees to the department of revenue.

(4) These provisions shall not apply to farm vehicles as defined in RCW 46.04.181 if operated within a radius of fifteen miles of the farm where principally used or garaged, farm tractors and farm implements including trailers designed as cook or bunk houses used exclusively for animal herding temporarily operating or drawn upon the public highways, and trailers used exclusively to transport farm implements from one farm to another during the daylight hours or at night when such equipment has lights that comply with the law: PROVIDED FURTHER, That these provisions shall not apply to spray or fertilizer applicator rigs designed and used exclusively for spraying or fertilization in the conduct of agricultural operations and not primarily for the purpose of transportation, and nurse rigs or equipment auxiliary to the use of and designed or modified for the fueling, repairing or loading of spray and fertilizer applicator rigs and not used, designed or modified primarily for the purpose of transportation: PROVIDED FURTHER, That these provisions shall not apply to fork lifts operated during daylight hours on public highways adjacent to and within five hundred feet of the warehouses which they serve: PROVIDED FURTHER, That these provisions shall not apply to equipment defined as follows:

"Special highway construction equipment" is any vehicle which is designed and used primarily for grading of highways, paving of highways, earth moving, and other construction work on highways and which is not designed or used primarily for the transportation of persons or property on a public highway and which is only incidentally operated or moved over the highway. It includes, but is not limited to, road construction and maintenance machinery so designed and used such as portable air compressors, air drills, asphalt spreaders, bituminous mixers, bucket loaders, track laying tractors, ditchers, leveling graders, finishing machines, motor graders, paving mixers, road rollers, scarifiers, earth moving scrapers and carryalls, lighting plants, welders, pumps, power shovels and draglines, self-propelled and tractor-drawn earth moving equipment and machinery, including dump trucks and tractor-dump trailer combinations which either ((~~(1)~~)) (a) are in excess of the legal width, or ((~~(2)~~)) (b) which, because of their length, height or unladen weight, may not be moved on a public highway without the permit specified in RCW 46.44.090 and which are not operated laden except within the boundaries of the project limits as defined by the contract, and other similar types of construction equipment, or ((~~(3)~~)) (c) which are driven or moved upon a public highway only for the purpose of crossing such highway from one property to another, provided such movement does not exceed five hundred feet and the vehicle is equipped with wheels or pads which will not damage the roadway surface.

Exclusions:

"Special highway construction equipment" does not include any of the following:

Dump trucks originally designed to comply with the legal size and weight provisions of this code notwithstanding any subsequent modification which would require a permit, as specified in RCW 46.44.090, to operate such vehicles on a public highway, including trailers, truck-mounted transit mixers, cranes and shovels, or other vehicles designed for the transportation of persons or property to which machinery has been attached.

((~~(4)~~)) (5) The following vehicles, whether operated solo or in combination, are exempt from license registration and displaying license plates as required by this chapter:

(a) A converter gear used to convert a semitrailer into a trailer or a two-axle truck or tractor into a three or more axle truck or tractor or used in any other manner to increase the number of axles of a vehicle. Converter gear includes an auxiliary axle, booster axle, dolly, and jeep axle.

(b) A tow dolly that is used for towing a motor vehicle behind another motor vehicle. The front or rear wheels of the towed vehicle are secured to and rest on the tow dolly that is attached to the towing vehicle by a tow bar.

Sec. 2. RCW 46.68.250 and 1996 c 184 s 6 are each amended to read as follows:

The vehicle licensing fraud account is created in the custody of the state ((~~treasury~~)) treasurer. From penalties ((~~and~~)), fines, and fees imposed under RCW 46.16.010, 47.68.255, and 88.02.118, an amount equal to ((~~the~~)) any taxes and fees owed shall be deposited into the account. ((~~Moneys in the account may be spent only after appropriation.~~)) Expenditures from the account may be used only for vehicle license fraud enforcement and collections by the: (1) Washington state patrol ((~~and~~)); (2) the department of revenue; and (3) payments to individuals who present information to the department of revenue that leads to finding that a person has evaded the payment of a tax or license fee imposed in connection with registration of a vehicle. Only the director of the department of revenue or the director's designee may authorize expenditures from the account. The account is subject to allotment procedures under chapter 43.88 RCW, but an appropriation is not required for expenditures.