HB1466 (2006) Detail

Relative to registration of slow-moving vehicles.


HB 1466-FN – AS INTRODUCED

2006 SESSION

06-2241

03/01

HOUSE BILL 1466-FN

AN ACT relative to registration of slow-moving vehicles.

SPONSORS: Rep. Babson, Carr 3

COMMITTEE: Transportation

ANALYSIS

This bill establishes a special registration for slow-moving vehicles meeting the specifications defined in the bill.

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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.

Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]

Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

06-2241

03/01

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Six

AN ACT relative to registration of slow-moving vehicles.

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

1 New Section; Motor Vehicles; Words and Phrases Defined; Slow-Moving Vehicle. Amend RSA 259 by inserting after section 101 the following new section:

259:101-a Slow-Moving Vehicle. “Slow-moving vehicle” shall mean any vehicle equipped with brakes, brake lights, directional signals, and seating for 2 or more passengers side-by-side; having piston displacement not exceeding 1,000 cubic centimeters and defined carrying capacity behind the passenger seat not exceeding 2,000 pounds; and not exceeding 80 inches in width.

2 New Section; Number Plates; Slow-Moving Vehicle Plates. Amend RSA 261 by inserting after section 84 the following new section:

261:84-a Slow-Moving Vehicle Plates.

I. A slow-moving vehicle shall qualify for slow-moving vehicle plates, which shall be issued at the rate of $50 per year with no other fees applicable to the issuance of such plates.

II. Slow-moving vehicles shall be driven with such registration only on roads with a posted speed limit of 35 miles per hour or less and only for the following agricultural purposes:

(a) Transportation of agricultural products for delivery to storage or to market or to carriers for transportation to market.

(b) Non-commercial hauling of firewood harvested on the farm.

(c) Hauling animals, hay, fertilizer, feed, livestock, poultry, agricultural supplies, farm workers, or other supplies or farm products in connection with the registrant’s farming operation.

(d) Hauling household rubbish or garbage from the farm to a disposal site.

(e) Hauling or towing implements of husbandry.

3 Effective Date. This act shall take effect July 1, 2006.

LBAO

06-2241

11/29/05

HB 1466-FN - FISCAL NOTE

AN ACT relative to registration of slow-moving vehicles.

FISCAL IMPACT:

      The Department of Safety has determined this bill will increase state revenue and expenditures by an indeterminable amount in FY 2007 and each year thereafter, and local revenue in FY 2008 and each year thereafter. There will be no fiscal impact on county revenue or county and local expenditures.

METHODOLOGY:

    The Department stated this bill intends to establish a special registration for certain slow-moving vehicles, presumably used in farming and agricultural operations. Slow-moving vehicle license plates would be issued at a rate of $50 per year. The number of vehicles that would qualify for these plates, and of those, how many owners of these vehicles would avail themselves of the plates is unknown; therefore, the Department cannot estimate the increase in highway fund revenue associated with collection of the fees for the plates. Additionally, pursuant to RSA 235:23,I, local highway aid would increase by 12% of the increase in highway funds collected. State expenditures would increase by the costs of designing and manufacturing the plates and the computer programming time costs to be paid to an outside vendor. Discussions with the Office of Information Technology revealed that it does not have the resources to do the project. It is generally not cost effective to manufacture a new plate type in batches of less than 5,000 pairs. The minimum startup cost to create a new plate type is about $45,000 for computer time, artist’s fees, printing, handling, and accounting. The cost to mail a pair of plates is $2.29. The cost to manufacture the plates in small quantities is as much as $15.00 for each pair of plates. The economies of scale occur only with larger runs. The Department cannot determine how many people own "slow moving vehicles"; therefore, even though the Department can say that the cost would be a minimum of $131,450 for 5,000 plates, the fiscal impact on state expenditures cannot be reasonably estimated.