SENATE BUDGET AND APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

[First Reprint]

SENATE, No. 210

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED: JUNE 3, 1996

      The Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee reports favorably Senate Bill No. 210 (1R).

      Senate Bill No. 210 (1R) establishes a special Pinelands license plate for Pinelands preservation. The plate would bear words and an emblem designed by the Director of the Division of Motor Vehicles in consultation with the Pinelands Commission. Motor vehicle owners and lessees would be able to obtain the plate for an initial fee of $50 and an annual $10 renewal fee. These fees would be in addition to the registration fees otherwise prescribed by law.

      The additional fees would be deposited in the "Pinelands Preservation Fund," created by the bill, and used exclusively for (2) approved Pinelands acquisition projects in accordance with applicable State and federal laws relating to the protection of the Pinelands National Reserve and Pinelands area, and (3) the costs of surveys and appraisals and other necessary costs incurred by the Department of Environmental Protection to acquire lands in the Pinelands National Reserve that have limited practical use because of their location and that are held by landowners who own less than 50 acres in the reserve and have exhausted existing remedies to secure relief.

       The revenue from the additional fees would also be used to annually reimburse the Division of Motor Vehicles for the costs of producing, issuing, renewing, and publicizing this special plate, as well as for the costs of any needed computer reprogramming. Initially, this reimbursement cannot exceed $100,000. The bill requires the Joint Budget Oversight Committee to certify annually the average cost per license plate.

FISCAL IMPACT

      In the past on other bills authorizing the issuance of special license plates, the Division of Motor Vehicles estimated total fixed costs at $41,000 for reprogramming agency and revenue automated systems and for one-time die costs. The division does not attempt to estimate public interest in new plates; therefore, it does not offer a revenue estimate.

      As a reference, the division in Fiscal Year 1996 estimated that the animal welfare license plate would raise $433,000, the wildlife conservation license plate would raise $236,000, and the shore protection license plate would raise $899,000.