By: Pickett H.B. No. 3777
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to fees collected for processing and handling vehicle
registration applications.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sec. 502.1911. REGISTRATION PROCESSING AND
HANDLING FEE. (a) The department may collect a fee, in addition to
other registration fees for the issuance of a license plate, a set
of license plates, or another device used as the registration
insignia, to cover the expenses of collecting those registration
fees, including a service charge for registration by mail.
(b) The board by rule shall set the fee in an amount that:
(1) includes the fee established under Section
502.356(a); and
(2) is sufficient to cover the expenses associated
with collecting registration fees by:
(A) the department;
(B) a county tax assessor-collector;
(C) a private entity with which a county tax
assessor-collector contracts under Section 502.197; or
(D) a deputy assessor-collector that is
deputized in accordance with board rule under Section 520.0071.
(c) The county tax assessor-collector, a private entity
with which a county tax assessor-collector contracts under Section
502.197, or a deputy assessor-collector may retain a portion of the
fee collected under Subsection (b) as provided by board rule.
Remaining amounts collected under this section shall be deposited
to the credit of the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles fund.
SECTION 2. Section 502.197(b), Transportation Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(b) With the approval of the commissioners court of a
county, a county assessor-collector may contract with a private
entity to enable an applicant for registration to use an electronic
off-premises location. A private entity may collect a service
charge in [retain] an amount determined by the board [under Section
502.1911] for the service provided.
SECTION 3. Section 502.198(a), Transportation Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) Except as provided by Sections 502.058, 502.060,
[502.1911,] 502.192, and 502.357, this section applies to all fees
collected by a county assessor-collector under this chapter.
SECTION 4. Sections 520.006(a) and (a-1), Transportation
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) A county assessor-collector shall collect a service
charge of $1.95 from each applicant registering a vehicle [retain
an amount determined by the board under Section 502.1911 for each
receipt issued] under Chapter 502.
(a-1) A county assessor-collector collecting fees on behalf
of a county that has been declared as a disaster area or that is
closed for a protracted period of time as defined by the department
for purposes of Section 501.023 or 502.040 may retain the service
charge authorized under Subsection (a) and any other commission for
fees collected under Chapter 501 or 502, but shall allocate any
other [the] fees that county assessor-collectors are authorized to
retain under Chapter 501 or 502 to the county declared as a disaster
area or that is closed for a protracted period of time.
SECTION 5. Sections 502.191(f) and 502.197(a),
Transportation Code, are repealed.
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.