To operate a vehicle on the public highways of the state, a person must have in full force and effect a current vehicle registration.
The application for an initial registration must include certain information, including but not limited to:
Annual renewal of the vehicle registration is also required, with no additional information required.
The Department of Licensing must request odometer information in the application for vehicle registration and vehicle registration renewal. The vehicle owner is not required to provide the mileage shown on the odometer. Failure to provide any or accurate mileage is not grounds to deny vehicle registration or issue any penalty.
The personally identifying information of persons who voluntarily report their vehicle odometer mileage as part of a vehicle registration is exempt from public disclosure. The information may be disclosed in aggregate form only if the data does not contain any personally identifying information. Personally identifying information may be released to law enforcement agencies only if the request is accompanied by a court order.
In the substitute bill:
(In support) The more information that we have the better we can make decisions as a Legislative body. These odometer readings will give us a better picture of travel trends and patterns statewide; further our knowledge; inform state transportation planning efforts and citizen policy goals around preservation, safety, mobility, economic vitality, and environmental protection; and facilitate the development of transportation funding mechanism which are becoming more important.
(Opposed) This establishes a humiliating annual odometer reporting requirement for vehicle registrations. The only appropriate way for fully funding our roads is to pay at the pump. Those who pay the gas tax should be allowed to continue to do so, electric vehicle owners should be able to pay an electric charge tax, both out and about and via a separate line item on their home electric bills. This would replace the annual registration fee already paid by electric vehicle owners in lieu of the gas tax. The state has no reason for knowing our whereabouts or how far we have driven so long as we are safe. Requiring yearly reporting will create privacy issues, which could reveal private habits and personal information. This information could be used by companies or law enforcement to track and monitor a person's activities. This will lead to mileage taxation and revenue generation. This could be a costly endeavor and may not be worth the expense.
(Other) Operational challenges are presented for the County Auditors if the odometer reading is not provided when someone comes in to renew their car tabs. We see this as a hard stop and we cannot renew the registration until we get that information. We do more than 8 million transactions across the state. If half of the mail-in transactions do not include the information, it could cost us $200,000 to $400,000 per year. The committee should consider changing the bill and making the first year optional as an education year, instead of a hard stop. Auditors could renew the registration and then send a note about the requirement going into effect the following year.