GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1999

H	1 

HOUSE BILL 1842

Short Title:  2 Year License Plates/Inspections.	(Public)

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Sponsors: Representatives Allred; Capps, Davis, Rayfield, and Sexton.

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Referred to:  Finance.

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May 30, 2000

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO MAKE CERTAIN STATUTORY CHANGES TO IMPROVE THE EFFICIENCY OF THE DIVISION OF MOTOR VEHICLES.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1.  The Division of Motor Vehicles shall report to the Joint Legislative Transportation Oversight Committee on the implementation of a program for routine vehicle registration and drivers license renewals with information and fees electronically transmitted over the Internet.  The report shall be made no later than December 1, 2000, and shall include the necessary statutory changes to implement the program by July 1, 2001.
Section 2.  G.S. 20-66(a) reads as rewritten:
"(a)	Biennial Renewal. – The registration of a vehicle shall be renewed biennially.  To renew the registration of a vehicle, the owner of the vehicle shall file an application with the Division and pay the required registration fee. The Division may receive and grant an application for renewal of registration at any time before the registration expires."
Section 3.  G.S. 20-66(h) reads as rewritten:
"(h)	When Calendar-Year Plate Expires. – The registration of a vehicle that is not renewed by means of a registration renewal sticker expires at midnight on December 31 of the year indicated on the sticker.  It is lawful, however, to operate the vehicle on a highway until midnight on the following February 15."
Section 4.  G.S. 20-66(i) reads as rewritten:
"(i)	Property Tax Consolidation. – 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 twenty-fourth 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¢)."
Section 5.  G.S. 20-183.4D(d) reads as rewritten:
"(d)	When Sticker Expires. – An inspection sticker put on a vehicle that did not have an inspection sticker issued under this Part when it was brought in for inspection expires at midnight on the last day of the twelfth month for a twelve-month inspection and on the last day of the twenty-fourth month for a twenty-four month inspection after the month the inspection sticker is put on the vehicle. An inspection sticker put on a vehicle that had an inspection sticker that was put on under this Part when it was brought in for inspection expires as follows:
(1)	If the expiration date of the inspection sticker the vehicle had when it was brought in for inspection is less than 12 full months from the date of the inspection, the inspection sticker expires at midnight on the last day of the twelfth month for a twelve-month inspection and on the last day of the twenty-fourth month for a twenty-four month inspection after the month the inspection sticker is put on the vehicle.
(2)	If the expiration date of the inspection sticker the vehicle had when it was brought in for inspection is 12 or more months from the date of the inspection, the inspection sticker expires one year after the expiration date of the inspection sticker the vehicle had when it was brought in for inspection for a twelve-month inspection and two years after the expiration date of the inspection sticker the vehicle had when it was brought in for inspection for a twenty-four month inspection."
Section 6.  G.S. 20-183.7 is amended by adding a new subsection to read:
"( f)	The fees contained in subsection (a) for "Safety Only, Without After-Factory Tinted Window"and for "Safety Only, With After-Factory Tinted Window"are annual fees.  For two-year inspections, which may be elected by the person offering the vehicle for inspection, those fees shall be doubled, and there shall be an additional "Two-Year Inspection Fee"of ten dollars ($10.00) which shall be deposited in the Highway Fund as nontax revenue."
Section 7.  G.S. 20-63(h) reads as rewritten:
"(h)	Commission Contracts for Issuance of Plates and Certificates. – All registration plates, registration certificates and certificates of title issued by the Division, outside of those issued from the Raleigh offices of the said Division and those issued and handled through the United States mail, shall be issued insofar as practicable and possible through commission contracts entered into by the Division for the issuance of such plates and certificates in localities throughout North Carolina with persons, firms, corporations or governmental subdivisions of the State of North Carolina and the Division shall make a reasonable effort in every locality, except as hereinbefore noted, to enter into a commission contract for the issuance of such plates and certificates and a record of these efforts shall be maintained in the Division. In the event the Division is unsuccessful in making commission contracts as hereinbefore set out it shall then issue said plates and certificates through the regular employees of the Division. Whenever registration plates, registration certificates and certificates of title are issued by the Division through commission contract arrangements, the Division shall provide proper supervision of such distribution. Commission contracts entered under this subsection shall provide for the payment of compensation for all transactions as set forth below. Nothing contained in this subsection will allow or permit the operation of fewer outlets in any county in this State than are now being operated.
A transaction is any of the following activities:
(1)	Issuance of a registration plate, a registration card, a registration renewal sticker, or a certificate of title.
(2)	Issuance of a handicapped placard or handicapped identification card.
(3)	Acceptance of an application for a personalized registration plate.
(4)	Acceptance of a surrendered registration plate, registration card, or registration renewal sticker, or acceptance of an affidavit stating why a person cannot surrender a registration plate, registration card, or registration renewal sticker.
(5)	Cancellation of a title because the vehicle has been junked.
(6)	Acceptance of an application for, or issuance of, a refund for a fee or a tax, other than the highway use tax.
(7)	Receipt of the civil penalty imposed by G.S. 20-309 for a lapse in financial responsibility or receipt of the restoration fee imposed by that statute.
(8)	Acceptance of a notice of failure to maintain financial responsibility for a motor vehicle.
(8a)	Collection of civil penalties imposed for violations of G.S. 20-183.8A.
(8b)	Sale of one or more inspection stickers in a single transaction to a licensed inspection station.
(9)	Collection of the highway use tax.
Performance at the same time of any combination of the items that are listed within each subdivision or are listed within subdivisions (1)	through (8b) of this section is a single transaction for which a dollar and thirty-five cent ($1.35) compensation shall be paid. Performance of the item listed in subdivision (9) of this subsection in combination with any other items listed in this subsection is a separate transaction for which a one dollar and twenty cent ($1.20) compensation shall be paid.
Issuance of a two-year registration plate or sticker is a transaction for which a two dollar and seventy cent ($2.70) compensation shall be paid."
Section 8.  This act is effective when it becomes law and Sections 2 through 6 become effective January 1, 2001.