REVENUE DEPARTMENT FEE HIKE VIOLATES STATE LAW

In significantly increasing the fees it charges for driver’s license and vehicle records, the Missouri Department of Revenue factored in costs that under state law it can’t pass on to purchasers, The Associated Press reported on May 21. The AP report was based on about 200 documents related to the fee hike it obtained from the department under the Sunshine Law.

Earlier this month the revenue department raised its fees to $7 per record. The department previously charged $1.25 for an individual record, with per-record costs of just a fraction of a penny for bulk purchases. Insurance companies and other businesses authorized to obtain the records used to pay $2,035 for the complete database of 4 million records; the full database now costs $28 million.

In setting the new fee at $7 per record, the department included the cost of purchasing and maintaining a new computer database and other expenses such as employee benefits and attorney fees. The Sunshine Law, however, says the only costs government agencies may impose is 10 cents a page for documents plus the actual cost for a clerical worker to retrieve the documents. According to a Dec. 21, 2006, document obtained by the AP, it takes just 3.5 minutes for department employee to process a record request for an actual staff-time cost of 67 cents.

In the closing days of the legislative session, the General Assembly added a provision to SB 711 that cut the revenue department’s fee for bulk purchases to a half-cent per record. The governor is expected to sign the bill, which also provides property tax relief for homeowners. Some companies that routinely purchased the records have also sued the department alleging its fees are excessive under Sunshine Law.

REVENUE IMPOSES MASSIVE FEE HIKE FOR DRIVING RECORDS

Until recently insurance companies and other businesses authorized to access Missourians’ driver and vehicle license records had to pay just $2,035 for the complete database of 4 million records. The Missouri Department of Revenue’s new asking price for the database: $28 million. Businesses that use the records say the massive fee hike will either put them out of business or result in significantly higher car insurance rates for Missouri motorists as insurers pass on the cost of obtaining the records. Some lawmakers question the legality of the move and are threatening to overturn it.

The revenue department recently raised the fee to $7 per record. The old fee was $1.25 for a single record with significant discounts for bulk purchases that lowered the cost for the entire database to just a fraction of a penny per record. Under the new fee structure, the department provides no bulk discount.

Called before the Joint Committee on Tax Policy on May 6 to explain the hike, Department of Revenue Director Omar Davis said it was necessary to pay for a $50 million modernization of its 30-year-old database. Davis said the department didn’t ask the General Assembly for a budget appropriation for that purpose because “we knew the answer would be no,” according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. State Rep. Shannon Cooper, R-Clinton, said he will seek to attach an amendment nullifying the fee hike to another bill during the final days of the legislative session.

NEW LICENSE PLATES VIOLATE LAW WITH POOR GRAMMAR

English teachers and other sticklers for proper grammar could be irate when Missouri’s newly redesigned license plates go into circulation this summer with a grammatically incorrect version of the state’s nickname. The error, which the Missouri Department of Revenue says it will not correct, also apparently violates state law.

The state’s nickname on the new plates will read “Show Me State.” Because the words “show” and “me” form a compound modifier, the rules of grammar require that they be hyphenated, Missouri Southern State University English professor Dale Simpson told The Joplin Globe. State law also requires Missouri license plates to bear the phrase “SHOW-ME STATE,” hyphen included.

About 2.8 million of the new plates already have been made. A revenue department spokesman told The Associated Press the error won’t be corrected on the remaining 10 million plates that are scheduled to be produced.

NEW MISSOURI LICENSE PLATES COMING IN JUNE

Missouri will begin phasing in new vehicle license plates this summer. The new plates will feature a bluebird, the state bird, sitting on a hawthorn branch, the state floral emblem. The new design will replace the current Missouri plates that have been in use since 1997.

Motorists who renew their vehicle registrations after June 16 will receive the new plates, which will cost an additional $2.78 per set over the current cost for standard plates. Personalized plates will cost an additional $4.25 per set.

TRANSPORTATION CHAIR PROPOSES $4 BILLION TAX HIKE

House Transportation Committee Chairman Neal St. Onge on March 29 proposed a $4 billion tax increase to pay for rebuilding Interstate 70 and other highway projects throughout the state, along with upgrading river ports and improving public transportation. St. Onge, R-Ballwin, doesn’t expect his proposal to pass this year but hopes to build support for placing it on the statewide ballot in 2008, according to The Associated Press.

St. Onge’s plan calls for increasing car license plate fees by $15 and commercial truck plate fees by $20. It would also boost the state fuel tax by 4 cents per gallon, impose a 2 percent sales tax on fuel and increase the general state sales tax by half a percent. The taxes would expire after six years.

Earlier this year, Senate Transportation Committee Chairman Bill Stouffer, R-Napton, proposed a 1 percent general state sales tax for rebuilding Interstates 70 and 44. That tax would generate as estimated $7.2 billion and expire after 10 years. The bills are HB 1237 and SB 310.

"Special" License Plates

Here's an interesting bill that we heard in the Transportation Committee today. In a nut shell it allows the Department of Revenue to issue a "special" license plate for those who have had their license suspended for over 60 days. Expect the plate to be flashy because law enforcement testified for the bill because it would also give them probable cause to pull drivers with these plates over. Another bill filed dealing with the same subject recommended a hot pink color.
http://www.house.mo.gov/bills071/bills/hb1028.htm