A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to provide an additional fee to be paid to COMMISSION contract agents for transactions related to motor vehicle titles.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  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 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 the plates and certificates in localities throughout North Carolina with persons, firms, corporations or governmental subdivisions of the State of North Carolina. The Division shall make a reasonable effort in every locality, except as noted above, to enter into a commission contract for the issuance of the 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, it shall issue the 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 the distribution. 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.
Commission contracts entered into by the Division under this subsection shall provide for the payment of compensation on a per transaction basis. The collection of the highway use tax shall be considered a separate transaction for which one dollar and twenty‑seven cents ($1.27) compensation shall be paid. The performance at the same time of one or more of the remaining transactions listed in this subsection shall be considered a single transaction for which one dollar and forty‑three cents ($1.43) compensation shall be paid.
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.
(10)	Acceptance of a temporary lien filing.
Commission contracts entered into by the Division under this subsection shall also provide for the payment of an additional one dollar ($1.00) for any transaction involving the issuance of a certificate of title, correcting a title, issuing a duplicate title, recording a lien on a title, or any other transaction affecting a new or existing title."
SECTION 2.  G.S. 20‑85(a) reads as rewritten:
"(a)	The following fees are imposed concerning a certificate of title, a registration card, or a registration plate for a motor vehicle. These fees are payable to the Division and are in addition to the tax imposed by Article 5A of Chapter 105 of the General Statutes.
(1)	Each application for certificate of title…………$36.00
(2)	Each application for duplicate or 
corrected certificate of title……………………….11.00
(3)	Each application of repossessor for
certificate of title………………………………….11.00
(4)	Each transfer of registration	10.00
(5)	Each set of replacement registration
plates	10.00
(6)	Each application for duplicate registration
card	10.00
(7)	Each application for recording supplementary
lien………………………………………………...11.00
(8)	Each application for removing a lien from a
certificate of title………………………………….11.00
(9)	Each application for certificate of title for a
motor vehicle transferred to a manufacturer,
as defined in G.S. 20‑286, or a motor vehicle
retailer for the purpose of resale	11.00
(10)	Each application for a salvage certificate of title
made by an insurer	10.00."
SECTION 3.  G.S. 20‑85(b) reads as rewritten:
"(b)	The fees collected under subdivisions (a)(1) through (a)(9) of this section shall be credited to the North Carolina Highway Trust Fund. The fees collected under subdivision (a)(10) of this section shall be credited to the Highway Fund. Fifteen dollars ($15.00) of each title fee credited to the Trust Fund under subdivision (a)(1) shall be added to the amount allocated for secondary roads under G.S. 136‑176 and used in accordance with G.S. 136‑44.5.
One dollar ($1.00) of the fees collected pursuant to subdivisions (a)(1), (a)(2), (a)(3), (a)(7), (a)(8), and (a)(9) of this section derived from transactions involving certificates of title issued by the State offices of the Division or those transactions handled through the United States mail or electronic transmission shall be used for Division technology improvements."
SECTION 4.  This act becomes effective October 1, 2004, and shall expire on September 30, 2007.