House Bill 1169

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTIONS 27-19-43 AND 63-21-63, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO AUTHORIZE THE DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE TO CHARGE AN ADDITIONAL FEE OF NOT MORE THAN FIVE DOLLARS FOR MOTOR VEHICLE TAGS AND TITLES TO BE USED TO PURCHASE AND DEFRAY ALL EXPENSES RELATED TO AN INFORMATION-TECHNOLOGY SYSTEM USED FOR PROCESSING TITLE AND REGISTRATION TRANSACTIONS; TO AMEND SECTIONS 27-19-99 AND 63-21-65, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO CONFORM TO THE PRECEDING PROVISIONS; TO BRING FORWARD SECTION 27-104-33, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, FOR THE PURPOSE OF POSSIBLE AMENDMENT; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. Section 27-19-43, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

27-19-43. (1) License tags, substitute tags and decals for individual fleets and for private carriers of passengers, school buses (excluding school buses owned by a school district in the state), church buses, taxicabs, ambulances, hearses, motorcycles and private carriers of property, and private commercial carriers of property of a gross weight of ten thousand (10,000) pounds and less, shall be sold and issued by the tax collectors of the several counties.

(2) Applications for license tags for motor vehicles in a corporate fleet registered under Section 27-19-66 and trailers in a fleet registered under Section 27-19-66.1, and applications for all other license tags, substitute tags and decals shall be filed with the department or the local tax collector of the respective counties and forwarded to the department for issuance to the applicant. All tags and decals for vehicles owned by the state or any agency or instrumentality thereof, and vehicles owned by a fire protection district, school district or a county or municipality, and all vehicles owned by a road, drainage or levee district shall be issued by the department.

(3) In addition to the privilege taxes levied herein, there shall be collected the following registration or tag fee:

(a) For the issuance of both a license tag and two (2) decals, a fee of Five Dollars ($5.00).

(b) For the issuance of up to two (2) decals only, a fee of Three Dollars and Seventy-five Cents ($3.75).

(c) Additionally, the tax collector or the department, as the case may be, shall assess and collect a fee of Four Dollars ($4.00) upon each set of license tags and two (2) decals issued, or upon each set of two (2) decals issued, and that sum shall be deposited in the Mississippi Trauma Care Systems Fund established in Section 41-59-75, to be used for the purposes set out in that section.

(4) No tag or decal shall be issued either by a tax collector or by the department without the collection of such registration fee except substitute tags and decals and license tags for vehicles owned by the State of Mississippi.

(5) Beginning July 1, 1987, and until the date specified in Section 65-39-35, there shall be levied a registration fee of Five Dollars ($5.00) in addition to the regular registration fee imposed in paragraphs (a) and (b) of this subsection. Such additional registration fee shall be levied in the same manner as the regular registration fee.

(6) Beginning July 1, 2015, there shall be collected a fee of not more than Five Dollars ($5.00) in addition to the registration fee imposed in subsection (3) of this section.

SECTION 2. Section 27-19-99, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

27-19-99. (1) The Department of Revenue shall furnish the tax collector of each county a sufficient supply of license tags or plates and a sufficient supply of license receipts with which to make the collection of the taxes imposed by the provisions of this article, which such tax collectors are required to collect. The license tag receipts shall be on forms prescribed by the department. Upon the payment of the taxes and fees required by this article, the tax collector shall issue the license receipt in the form prescribed by the department. The department shall keep account against the tax collector for the license taxes and fees collected. The tax collector shall keep a similar account.

(2) The tax collector shall, at the end of each month or within twenty (20) days thereafter, pay into the county road fund all privilege taxes collected by him during the preceding month upon motor vehicle privilege licenses which he is entitled to issue, less the county's commission.

(3) The tax collector shall keep a record of the information furnished by the owners of each motor vehicle registered. The record shall be made in numerical order by tag number or decal number, whichever is appropriate. At the end of each month, or within twenty (20) days thereafter, the tax collector shall submit to the department a copy of such record, together with the copy of each registration receipt, and shall, at the same time, remit to the department the registration fee for each license tag or decal sold by him during the preceding month. When the tax collector shall have complied with the provisions of this section and shall have forwarded to the department, within the time specified, all reports required of him hereunder, he shall then be entitled to retain five percent (5%) of the registration fees imposed in Section 27-19-43(3)(a) and (b), to be paid into the county general fund; otherwise the county's commission shall be forfeited. The five percent (5%) shall not apply to any additional registration fee imposed above the amounts imposed in Section 27-19-43(3)(a) and (b). The department shall keep a record from the duplicates filed by the tax collectors of all registered vehicles.

(4) Counties that use their existing computer system to communicate all data regarding vehicle title and registration transactions to the state's central computer system shall be allotted Fifty Cents (50¢) for each registration fee collected by the county and remitted to the Department of Revenue. Such communication must successfully pass any edit features and successfully create or update title/registration records on the network system. This amount paid to the county shall be deposited into the county general fund to be expended only for costs incurred for the purchase of equipment, software, maintenance, or other costs directly related to the title/registration network system, and for education and training.

(5) All monies remitted to the department by tax collectors as registration or tag fees from the portion of the rate imposed in Section 27-19-43(3)(a) and (b), and all monies received by the department directly as registration or tag fees from the portion of the rate imposed in Section 27-19-43(3)(a) and (b), except as otherwise provided in subsection (6) of this section, shall be paid by the department into the General Fund of the State Treasury on the first day of the month succeeding the month in which such fees are received by the department. All monies remitted to the department by tax collectors from the additional fee collected in Section 27-19-43(6) shall be used by the department to purchase and defray all expenses related to an information-technology system used for processing title and registration transactions.

(6) On April 1, 2010, and on the first day of each month succeeding the month in which registration or tag fees are received by the Department of Revenue, the portion of the receipts equal to the cost of the license tags, decals and associated freight costs shall be deposited into the special fund created in Section 27-19-179.

(7) Except as otherwise provided in Section 31-17-127, all monies remitted to the department by tax collectors as registration or tag fees from the additional rate of Five Dollars ($5.00) and all monies received by the department directly as registration or tag fees from the additional rate of Five Dollars ($5.00) shall be paid into the State Treasury to the credit of the State Highway Fund for the construction or reconstruction of highways designated under the highway program created under Section 65-3-97.

SECTION 3. Section 63-21-63, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

63-21-63. (1) There shall be paid to the Department of Revenue for issuing and processing documents required by this chapter, fees for motor vehicles according to the following schedule:

(a) Each application for certificate of title issued under Section 63-21-9(2)....................................... $ 9.00

(b) Each application for certificate of title not issued under Section 63-21-9(2)......................................... 9.00

(c) Each application for replacement or corrected certificate of title...................................................... 9.00

(d) Each suspension or revocation of certificate of title........................................................... 9.00

(e) Each notice of security interest............ 9.00

(f) Each release of security interest........... 9.00

(g) Each assignment by lienholder............... 9.00

(h) Each application for information as to the status of the title of a vehicle......................................... 9.00

(2) The designated agent may add the sum of One Dollar ($1.00) to each document processed for which a fee is charged to be retained as his commission for services rendered. All other fees collected shall be remitted to the department.

(3) If more than one (1) transaction is involved in any application on a single vehicle and if supported by all required documents, the fee charged by the department and by the designated agent for processing and issuing shall be considered as only one (1) transaction.

(4) In addition to the fees charged in this section, the department shall charge a fee of not more than Five Dollars ($5.00), which shall be used to purchase and defray all expenses related to an information-technology system used for processing title and registration transactions.

SECTION 4. Section 63-21-65, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

63-21-65. The Department of Revenue shall deposit the fees collected under this chapter, except for the fee collected in 63-21-63(4), into a special fund that is created in the State Treasury to the credit of the department. As much of those fees as appropriated by the Legislature shall be used by the department to defray the cost of carrying out the duties of the department, including the maintenance of the automated statewide motor vehicle and manufactured housing registration system.

SECTION 5. Section 27-104-33, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:

27-104-33. The State Department of Finance and Administration shall establish policies that allow the payment of various fees and other accounts receivable to state agencies, and the payment for retail merchandise sold by state agencies, by credit cards, charge cards, debit cards and other forms of electronic payment in the discretion of the department. Any fees or charges associated with the use of such electronic payments shall be assessed to the user of the electronic payment as an additional charge for processing the electronic payment, so that the user will pay the full cost of using the electronic payment.

Agencies, with the approval of the Department of Finance and Administration, may bear the full cost of processing such electronic payments if the agency can demonstrate to the department's satisfaction that they are able to assume these costs and provide the related service for the same or lesser cost. However, state agencies may bear the full cost of processing such electronic payments for retail merchandise sold by state agencies.

SECTION 6. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2015.