ASSEMBLY APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

ASSEMBLY, No. 2208

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED: JUNE 9, 1997

      The Assembly Appropriations Committee reports favorably Assembly Bill No. 2208.

      Assembly Bill No. 2208 directs the Division of the Motor Vehicles (DMV) to issue special Liberty State Park license plates. The special plates would contain markings or identification expressing the vehicle owner's support for, or interest in, Liberty State Park. The Director of the DMV would select the design of the license plate after soliciting, in conjunction with the Legislature, input from the general public and reviewing those submissions. A $50 fee will be charged for the issuance of the plates, and an additional $10 fee will be collected for each annual renewal.

      The bill creates in the Department of Environmental Protection a special non-lapsing "Liberty State Park License Plate Fund." All license plate fees collected pursuant to the bill, less the amounts necessary to reimburse the DMV for administrative costs, would be deposited in the fund. Monies deposited in the fund would be dedicated for support and funding of projects and programs at Liberty State Park.

      As reported by the committee, this bill is identical to Senate Bill No. 54.

FISCAL IMPACT:

      In the fiscal estimate for this bill, the DMV estimated fixed costs for other license plate bills to be about $41,000, for reprogramming agency and revenue automated systems, and for one-time die costs. Variable costs are approximately $8 per set. The DMV did not estimate total revenue expected.