GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1993

S	3 

SENATE BILL 128
Second Edition Engrossed 2/25/93
Finance Committee Substitute Adopted 3/25/93

Short Title:  Highway Use Tax Exemptions.	(Public)
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Sponsors:
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Referred to:  
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February 15, 1993

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO EXEMPT CERTAIN TRANSFERS OF VEHICLES FROM THE HIGHWAY USE TAX, TO REIMBURSE THE HIGHWAY TRUST FUND FOR REVENUE THAT WOULD OTHERWISE BE LOST AS A RESULT OF THE EXEMPTIONS, AND TO INCREASE REVENUES TO PROVIDE FUNDS TO MAKE THE REIMBURSEMENT.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1.  G.S. 105-187.6(a) reads as rewritten:
"(a)	Full Exemptions. – The tax imposed by this Article does not apply when a certificate of title is issued as the result of a transfer of a motor vehicle:
(1)	To the insurer of the motor vehicle under G.S. 20-109.1 because the vehicle is a salvage vehicle.
(2)	To either a manufacturer, as defined in G.S. 20-286, or a motor vehicle retailer for the purpose of resale.
(3)	To the same owner to reflect a change or correction in the owner's name.
(4)	By will or intestacy.
(5)	By a gift between a husband and wife, a parent and child, or a stepparent and a stepchild.
(6)	By a distribution of marital property as a result of a divorce.
(7)	To a handicapped person from the Department of Human Resources after the vehicle has been equipped by the Department for use by the handicapped.
(8)	To a local board of education for use in the driver education program of a public school when the motor vehicle is transferred:
a.	By a retailer and is to be transferred back to the retailer within 300 days after the transfer to the local board.
b.	By a local board of education."
Sec. 2.  G.S. 20-166.1(i) reads as rewritten:
"(i)	All collision reports, including supplemental reports, above mentioned, except those made by State, city or county police, shall be without prejudice and shall be for the use of the Division and shall not be used in any manner as evidence, or for any other purpose in any trial, civil or criminal, arising out of such collision except that the Division shall furnish upon demand of any court a properly executed certificate stating that a particular collision report has or has not been filed with the Division solely to prove a compliance with this section.
The reports made by State, city or county police and medical examiners, but no other reports required under this section, shall be subject to the inspection of members of the general public at all reasonable times.  The Division shall give a certified copy of one of these reports to a member of the general public who requests a copy and pays the fee set in G.S. 20-42 for a certified copy of a document.
Nothing herein provided shall prohibit the Division from furnishing to interested parties only the name or names of insurers and insured and policy number shown upon any reports required under this section."
Sec. 3.  G.S. 20-42(b) reads as rewritten:
"(b)	The Commissioner and officers of the Division designated by the Commissioner may prepare under the seal of the Division and deliver upon request a certified copy of any document of the Division, charging a fee of five dollars ($5.00) for each document certified.  A certified copy shall be admissible in any proceeding in any court in like manner as the original thereof, without further certification.  The certification fee does not apply to a document furnished for official use to a judicial official or to an official of the federal government, a state government, or a local government."
Sec. 4.  G.S. 20-50(b) reads as rewritten:
	"(b) The Division may upon receipt of proper application upon a form supplied by the Division and an accompanying fee of five dollars ($5.00) grant a 10-day temporary registration marker subject to the following limitations and conditions:
(1)	Temporary 10-day registration markers shall be issued only upon proper proof that the applicant has met the applicable financial responsibility requirements.
(2)	Temporary 10-day registration markers shall expire 10 days from the date of issuance.
(3)	Temporary 10-day registration markers may be used only on the vehicle for which issued and may not be transferred, loaned or assigned to another.
(4)	In the event a temporary 10-day registration marker is lost  or stolen, notice shall be furnished to the Division.
(5)	The Commissioner shall have the power to make such rules and regulations not inconsistent herewith as he shall deem necessary for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this section.
(6)	The provisions of G.S. 20-63, 20-71, 20-110 and 20-111 shall apply in like manner to temporary 10-day registration markers as is applicable to nontemporary plates not by their nature rendered inapplicable."
Sec. 5.  G.S. 20-66 reads as rewritten:
"§ 20-66.  Renewal of registration; semipermanent plates issued; renewal sticker annually; fees.
(a)	Application for renewal of a vehicle registration shall be made by the owner upon proper application and by payment of the registration fee for such vehicle, as provided by law.  The Division may receive and grant applications for renewal of registration at any time prior to expiration of registration.
(b)	When the Division renews the registration of a vehicle, it must issue a new registration card for the vehicle and either a new registration plate or a registration renewal sticker.  The Division may not renew a registration plate for a vehicle by means of a renewal sticker unless the Division is authorized to use that method of renewal.  The Division may renew a registration plate issued for the following types of vehicles by means of a renewal sticker:
(1)	Motorcycles.
(2)	Private passenger vehicles.
(3)	U-drive-it passenger vehicles.
(4)	Property hauling vehicles licensed for 4,000 pounds gross weight.
(5)	Vehicles registered under the International Registration Plan.
(6)	Trailers.
	(c)	A registration renewal sticker issued by the Division must be displayed on the registration plate that it renews in the place prescribed by the Commissioner and must indicate the period for which it and the registration plate on which it is displayed are valid.  Except where physical differences between a registration renewal sticker and a registration plate render a provision of this Chapter inapplicable, the provisions of this Chapter relating to registration plates apply to registration renewal stickers.
(d)	The Division may also provide for the issuance of license plates for motor vehicles with the dates of expiration thereof to vary from month to month so as to approximately equalize the number that expire during the registration year.
(e)	A vehicle license fee shall be computed by dividing the annual license fee by 12 and multiplying the quotient by the number of months remaining prior to the end of the month of expiration of the registration.  Amounts so computed shall be rounded to the nearest multiple of twenty-five cents (25¢).
(f)	No vehicle owner shall be required to pay the tax required by G.S. 20-88.1 at a rate greater than the annual rate prescribed in G.S. 20-88.1, because of Division of Motor Vehicles' procedures for implementing this subsection.  Compliance with this restriction may be accomplished by computing the tax for a portion of a year by dividing the annual amount by 12 and multiplying the quotient by the number of months remaining prior to the end of the month of expiration of the registration.  Amounts so computed shall be rounded to the nearest multiple of twenty-five cents (25¢).
(g)	Registration of all vehicles required to be registered under the staggered system shall expire at midnight on the last day of the month designated on the registration renewal sticker. Provided, however, that it shall not be unlawful to continue to operate any vehicle upon the highways of this State after the expiration of the registration of the vehicle during the 15-day period, inclusive of the fifteenth day immediately following the last day of the month designated on the registration renewal sticker to validate that registration if the registration plate renewal sticker is registered to the vehicle prior to the first day of expiration month.
(h)	Registration of all vehicles not required to be registered under the staggered system shall expire at midnight on the thirty-first day of December of each year: Provided, however, that it shall not be unlawful to continue to operate any vehicle upon the highways of this State after the expiration of the registration of said vehicle, registration card and registration plate during the period between the thirty-first day of December and the fifteenth day of February, inclusive, if the license plate is registered to the vehicle on which it is being used prior to the thirty-first day of December.  Provided further that the fee required under G.S. 20-88.1 shall be paid and collected in its entirety at any time such vehicles are registered and is not to be prorated.
(i)	When the Division receives an application under subsection (a) for the renewal of registration before the current registration expires, the Division shall grant the application if it is made for the purpose of consolidating the property taxes payable by the applicant on classified motor vehicles, as defined in G.S. 105-330.  The registration fee for a motor vehicle whose registration cycle is changed under this subsection shall be reduced by a prorated amount.  The prorated amount is one-twelfth of the registration fee in effect when the motor vehicle's registration was last renewed multiplied by the number of full months remaining in the motor vehicle's current registration cycle, rounded to the nearest multiple of twenty-five cents (25¢)."
Sec. 6.  G.S. 20-109.1(e) reads as rewritten:
"(e)	The Commissioner shall charge a fee of ten dollars ($10.00) for issuing a title or forms as required by this section.  Fees collected under this section shall be credited to the Highway Trust Fund."
Sec. 7.  This act becomes effective July 1, 1993.