Increases fees for the registration of larger, heavier motor vehicles; provides a waiver for a portion of weight added by batteries in electric vehicles.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A7978
SPONSOR: Mamdani TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to registration
fees for certain vehicles; and to repeal certain provisions of such law
relating thereto
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
To incrementally increase registration and reregistration fees for
certain vehicles.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 amends paragraph a of subdivision 6 of section 401 of the
Vehicle and Traffic Law by:
-Ending the current fee schedule for the registration and reregistration
of vehicles set by this paragraph on January 1, 2024;
-Authorizing the Commissioner to gradually increase registration and
reregistration fees until 2030, when they must meet the fee schedules
established in newly added paragraph, a-ii; -Subtracting 1,000 pounds
from the weight of electric vehicles that weigh 5,000 pounds or less for
the purposes of calculating registration fees at a rate of 10 cents per
pound.
Section 2 repeals subdivision 21 of section 401 of the Vehicle and Traf-
fic Law and replaces it with a new subdivision 21 that deposits regis-
tration and reregistration fees in the Highway and Bridge Trust fund and
Mass Transportation Trust Fund until each fund's annual financial plan
is met. This section would then require that 75 percent of remaining
funds be used for street safety projects and 25 percent of remaining
funds be used for state and local roadway projects.
Section 3 requires the Commissioner to issue a report annually that
lists, by county, the street safety projects and roadway improvement
projects funded through the new subdivision 21 of section 401 of the
Vehicle and Traffic Law, as established in section two of this bill.
This section also requires the report include county-level vehicle
weight data, the number of vehicles receiving a fee reduction for
producing zero emissions, and the number of vehicles involved in crashes
with pedestrians, cyclists, and other vehicles resulting in serious
injuries or fatalities.
Section 4 sets the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
In a ten year span between 2009 and 2019, pedestrian deaths from vehi-
cles rose an estimated 51 to 87 percent. In the first three months of
2023, 51 people were killed in NYC alone by vehicles. Individuals hit
by vehicles weighing more than 4,000 pounds are between two to three
times more likely to die than those hit by smaller cars. A study found
that in the average U.S. metro area, there is a 2.4 percent increase in
pedestrian deaths for every 100 kilogram increase in vehicle weight. As
the street safety crisis continues to escalate, vehicles are only
getting heavier. Since 2000, average vehicle weight has increased nearly
11 percent, and since 1980, vehicle weight has increased by roughly
1,000 pounds. Light trucks (pickups, SUVs, minivans) now make up more
than 75 percent of cars sold.
While vehicle weight has increased, hood height has also increased 11
percent since 2000. Some vehicles have a hood height that is taller than
most elementary school students, meaning they may not be able to see
these children stepping out into a crosswalk before it is too late.
These vehicles must also have wider pillars for their roofs to support
increased vehicle weight, impacting drivers' peripheral vision.
Oversized vehicles have additional consequences. For every 1,000 pound
increase in vehicle weight, there is a 47 percent increase in fatality
probability for the occupants of the other impacted vehicle. These
vehicles pollute more than smaller vehicles and cause more wear and tear
on their tires and brakes and on the roads, releasing toxic pollutants
and requiring more road maintenance. A study found that the total
external cost of vehicle weight from fatalities alone is $93 billion.
This bill seeks to internalize some of these costs to communities across
NYS, making pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers safer and protecting our
roads and environment.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
None
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
TBD
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act will take effect on January 1, 2024.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
7978
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
August 18, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. MAMDANI -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Transportation
AN ACT to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to registration
fees for certain vehicles; and to repeal certain provisions of such
law relating thereto
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The opening paragraph of paragraph a of subdivision 6 of
2 section 401 of the vehicle and traffic law, as amended by section 1 of
3 part G of chapter 59 of the laws of 2009, is amended and two new para-
4 graphs a-1 and a-2 are added to read as follows:
5 [The] Prior to January first, two thousand twenty-four, the following
6 fees shall be paid to the commissioner, or agent, upon the registration
7 or reregistration of a motor vehicle, including a suburban, in accord-
8 ance with the provisions of this article:
9 a-1. Beginning in two thousand twenty-four, the commissioner shall be
10 authorized to incrementally increase registration and reregistration
11 fees annually until such fees reach the amounts set forth in paragraph
12 a-two of this subdivision.
13 a-2.(i) Beginning in two thousand thirty, the following fees shall be
14 paid to the commissioner, or agent, upon the registration or reregistra-
15 tion of a motor vehicle which is a sedan, hardtop, coupe, convertible,
16 station wagon or hatchback in accordance with the provisions of this
17 article:
18 The first nineteen hundred ninety-nine pounds of the weight of such
19 motor vehicle, fully equipped, zero cents per pound; for each pound of
20 motor vehicle weight of at least two thousand pounds but less than three
21 thousand pounds, ten cents per pound; for each pound of motor vehicle
22 weight of at least three thousand pounds but less than four thousand
23 pounds, fifteen cents per pound; for each pound of motor vehicle weight
24 of at least four thousand pounds but less than five thousand pounds,
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD11077-05-3
A. 7978 2
1 twenty-one cents per pound; for each pound of motor vehicle weight of at
2 least five thousand pounds but less than six thousand pounds, thirty-one
3 cents per pound; for each pound of motor vehicle weight of at least six
4 thousand pounds but less than seven thousand pounds, forty-five cents
5 per pound; for each pound of motor vehicle weight of at least seven
6 thousand pounds but less than eight thousand pounds, sixty-six cents per
7 pound; for each pound of motor vehicle weight of at least eight thousand
8 pounds but less than nine thousand pounds, ninety-seven cents per pound;
9 for each pound of motor vehicle weight of nine thousand pounds or great-
10 er, one dollar and forty-one cents per pound.
11 (ii) Beginning in two thousand thirty, the following fees shall be
12 paid to the commissioner, or agent, upon the registration or reregistra-
13 tion of a motor vehicle which is a sports utility vehicle, minivan, or
14 truck in accordance with the provisions of this article:
15 The first nineteen hundred ninety-nine pounds of the weight of such
16 motor vehicle, fully equipped, ten cents per pound; for each pound of
17 motor vehicle weight of at least two thousand pounds but less than three
18 thousand pounds, fifteen cents per pound; for each pound of motor vehi-
19 cle weight of at least three thousand pounds but less than four thousand
20 pounds, twenty-two cents per pound; for each pound of motor vehicle
21 weight of at least four thousand pounds but less than five thousand
22 pounds, thirty-two cents per pound; for each pound of motor vehicle
23 weight of at least five thousand pounds but less than six thousand
24 pounds, forty-seven cents per pound; for each pound of motor vehicle
25 weight of at least six thousand pounds but less than seven thousand
26 pounds, sixty-eight cents per pound; for each pound of motor vehicle
27 weight of at least seven thousand pounds but less than eight thousand
28 pounds, one dollar per pound; for each pound of motor vehicle weight of
29 at least eight thousand pounds but less than nine thousand pounds, one
30 dollar and forty-five cents per pound; for each pound of motor vehicle
31 weight of nine thousand pounds or greater, two dollars and twelve cents
32 per pound.
33 (iii) For the registration or reregistration of any motor vehicle in
34 accordance with subparagraphs (i) and (ii) of this paragraph that
35 produces zero emissions and weighs no more than five thousand pounds,
36 the fee for one thousand pounds of motor vehicle weight at a rate of ten
37 cents per pound shall be waived.
38 (iv) Notwithstanding subparagraphs (i) and (ii) of this paragraph, for
39 motor vehicles described in subdivision seven of this section, the fee
40 for such registration shall be as therein prescribed.
41 (v) The curb weight of motor vehicle shall be accepted as the weight
42 for the purpose of registration and reregistration under this paragraph.
43 § 2. Subdivision 21 of section 401 of the vehicle and traffic law is
44 REPEALED and a new subdivision 21 is added to read as follows:
45 21. a. The commissioner shall deposit daily the percentages listed
46 below of all fees collected or received by the commissioner pursuant to
47 certain registration fees imposed by (i) paragraphs a, a-one and a-two
48 of subdivision six of this section, (ii) all schedules of subdivision
49 seven of this section, and (iii) paragraph a of subdivision eight of
50 this section in a responsible bank, banking house or trust company,
51 which shall pay the highest rate of interest to the state for such
52 deposit to the credit of the comptroller on account of the dedicated
53 highway and bridge trust fund established pursuant to section eighty-
54 nine-b of the state finance law. Annually, the commissioner shall so
55 deposit such registration fees so collected or so received after March
56 thirty-first, two thousand twenty-four until such time as the annual
A. 7978 3
1 financial plan of the dedicated highway and bridge trust fund and the
2 dedicated mass transportation trust fund are met. Thereafter, seventy-
3 five percent of such registration fees collected shall be directed to
4 funding new state and local street safety projects including but not
5 limited to protected bike lanes, bollards, road diets, pedestrianization
6 of streets, pedestrian islands, raised crosswalks, chicanes, turn calm-
7 ing, rumble strips, leading pedestrian intervals and curb and sidewalk
8 extensions. The remaining twenty-five percent shall be expended for
9 maintenance, repair, and revitalization of state and local roadways,
10 with a preference for projects that utilize green asphalt. The afore-
11 mentioned funds for street safety and roadway projects shall be prior-
12 itized for use in local projects before use in state projects. Every
13 bank, banking house or trust company that accepts such deposits shall
14 execute and file in the office of the department of audit and control an
15 undertaking to the state, in the sum, and with such sureties, as are
16 required and approved by the comptroller for the safe keeping and prompt
17 payment on legal demand therefor of all such moneys held by or on depos-
18 it in such bank, banking house, or trust company, with interest thereon
19 on daily balances at such rate as the comptroller may fix. Every such
20 undertaking shall have endorsed thereon or annexed thereto the approval
21 of the attorney general as to its form.
22 b. Of the revenues so deposited, the comptroller shall retain in their
23 hands such amount as the commissioner may determine to be necessary for
24 refunds or reimbursements of the fees collected or received pursuant to
25 (i) paragraphs a, a-one and a-two of subdivision six of this section,
26 (ii) all schedules of subdivision seven of this section, and (iii) para-
27 graph a of subdivision eight of this section to which registrants shall
28 be entitled under the provisions of this article, out of which amount
29 the commissioner shall pay any refunds or reimbursements of the fees
30 collected or received pursuant to paragraphs a, a-one and a-two of
31 subdivision six, all schedules of subdivision seven and paragraph a of
32 subdivision eight of this section to which registrants shall be entitled
33 under such provisions. The comptroller, after reserving the amount to
34 pay such refunds or reimbursements, shall, on or before the last day of
35 each month, deposit the balance of the revenue so deposited during such
36 month into the dedicated highway and bridge trust fund established
37 pursuant to section eighty-nine-b of the state finance law and the mass
38 transportation trust fund established pursuant to section eighty-nine-c
39 of the state finance law.
40 c. Notwithstanding any inconsistent provision of this section, eleven
41 dollars and fifty cents of the registration fees collected pursuant to
42 paragraph a of subdivision five of section four hundred ten of this
43 title shall be deposited pursuant to this subdivision. Three dollars and
44 fifty cents of such fees collected in relation to applications for new
45 registrations and renewals of existing registrations shall be deposited
46 to the credit of the dedicated highway and bridge trust fund. Two
47 dollars and fifty cents of such registration fees shall be deposited
48 into the motorcycle safety fund established pursuant to section ninety-
49 two-g of the state finance law.
50 § 3. The commissioner of the department of transportation shall submit
51 a report to the governor and the legislature annually that lists, by
52 county, the street safety projects and roadway improvement projects
53 funded by paragraph a of subdivision 21 of section 410 of the vehicle
54 and traffic law, as added by section two of this act. The report shall
55 also include, by county, vehicle weight data, the number of vehicles
56 receiving a fee reduction for producing zero emissions and the number of
A. 7978 4
1 vehicles categorized by vehicle weight involved in crashes with pedes-
2 trians, cyclists or other vehicles resulting in serious injuries or
3 fatalities. The report shall be made publicly available on the depart-
4 ment of transportation website.
5 § 4. This act shall take effect January 1, 2024.
