HB 1258

This bill establishes supporting public schools number plates with fees to be deposited in the education trust fund.

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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

1 New Subdivision; Supporting Public Schools Number Plates. Amend RSA 261 by inserting after section 97-f the following new subdivision:

I. The director is hereby authorized to issue special supporting public schools number plates, in lieu of other number plates. The commissioner shall determine the design of these special plates after reviewing design recommendations submitted by the public. The plates shall retain the "live free or die" logo. Such plates shall be issued only upon application and upon payment of a $25 fee that shall be in addition to the regular motor vehicle registration fee and any other number plate fees otherwise required.

II. Plates shall be renewed on an annual basis for $25 per set. Of this sum, the department shall retain an amount as is necessary to recover production and administrative costs as approved by the fiscal committee of the general court. The remaining funds shall be paid to the state treasurer for deposit in the education trust fund established pursuant to RSA 198:39. The cost of replacement number plates shall be identical to the cost of initial number plates and the revenue from replacement number plates shall be distributed in the same manner as revenue derived from initial number plates.

III. The director shall retain all applications received for supporting public schools number plates until a minimum of 1,000 applications has been received. If the director does not receive 1,000 applications for special number plates under this section by July 31 of any year, no such special number plates shall be issued and all fees shall be refunded no later than 30 days thereafter to applicants.

The Department of Safety states this bill will increase state revenue by $125,000 in FY 2005 and each year thereafter, and increase state expenditures by $97,500 in FY 2005. There will be no fiscal impact on county and local revenue or expenditures.

The Department states this bill will establish supporting public schools number plates for personal vehicles in lieu of other number plates. There will be an annual fee of $25 per set in addition to the normal registration and plate fees already established. The Department estimates a minimum number of plates for any new issue of 5,000 pairs, which would result in additional revenue of $125,000 in FY 2005 and each year thereafter. Of the additional revenue from the annual fee, the Department can retain an amount as is necessary to recover production and administrative costs as approved by the Fiscal Committee, and deposit the remaining funds into the education trust fund. The Department estimates the minimum startup costs of any new plate issue would be $30,000 for various items such as computer time, planning time, artist fees, special printing, handling, and accounting. In addition, the cost to manufacture the plates is approximately $67,500, resulting in total costs of $97,500. Assuming that only these plates will be issued and renewed, additional costs will occur in the first year only.