Riverside County Motorists Face Another Vehicle License Fee Hike

RIVERSIDE, CA -- Exercising a one-time provision in state law, a divided Board of Supervisors Tuesday approved a $1 increase in motor vehicle registration fees for Riverside County residents to increase the budget of a regional task force dedicated to investigating and prosecuting auto thefts.

In a 3-2 vote, the board signed off on a resolution that will be sent to the California Department of Motor Vehicles declaring the county's desire to hike its current Assembly Bill 767 fee from $1 per vehicle registration renewal to $2 countywide.

Residents with vehicles registered in the county will see the increase on their DMV bills in six months, according to the sheriff's department, which requested the higher fee, along with the District Attorney's Office and representatives from 13 cities in the county.

The Riverside County Law Enforcement Administrators Association, which acts as the collective voice of county law enforcement agencies and multiple cities' police departments, also backed the adjustment, in addition to seven auto insurance companies.

Supervisor Kevin Jeffries was joined by Supervisor Chuck Washington, who was in full support of vehicle license fee hikes ratified under Senate Bill 1 last year, in voting against the AB 767 fee increase. Supervisors Marion Ashley, V. Manuel Perez and John Tavaglione voted for it.

None of the supervisors commented prior to the vote.

According to sheriff's documents, the roughly $2 million expected to be generated by the fee hike will be allocated to the Riverside Auto-Theft Interdiction Detail -- RAID -- a multi-jurisdictional task force that pursues and prosecutes vehicle thieves throughout the Inland Empire. The augmented funding will support an additional supervising sergeant and four investigators, as well as cover overtime compensation and equipment purchases for RAID, officials said.

Elected officials from the cities that sent letters of support for the fee hike used a template narrative that stated "RAID has proven to be one of the most successful and productive auto theft task forces in California."

"In 2016, RAID apprehended 185 suspects and recovered 533 stolen vehicles with a recovery value of approximately $5,190,629," according to the letters. "In order to effectively combat the increase in vehicle theft-related crimes occurring throughout Riverside County, RAID is in need of additional funding."

At the time most of the letters were sent -- summer 2017 -- the California Highway Patrol had reported a prior-year jump in auto thefts in the county and state. However, according to agency statistics released in April, in 2017, there was a 13 percent decline in vehicle thefts in Riverside County, and a 6 percent drop statewide.

Gov. Jerry Brown signed AB 767 into law in 2013 to backfill anticipated revenue losses for auto theft interdiction task forces in metropolitan areas this year due to a change in state funding formulas.

The law permits counties' governing authorities to make a one-time, one-dollar increase in VLFs paid by owners of record in each county.

According to sheriff's documents, Alameda, Kings, Los Angeles, Marin, Napa, Sacramento, San Bernardino, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz and Solano counties have already passed similar resolutions.

--City News Service/Shutterstock image