ASSEMBLY APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

[First Reprint]

SENATE, No. 96

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED: NOVEMBER 6, 1997

      The Assembly Appropriations Committee reports favorably Senate Bill No. 96 (1R).

      Senate Bill No. 96 permits the Director of the Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to utilize the comprehensive court enforcement program, established in 1995, to collect unpaid surcharges imposed by the DMV. Surcharges are imposed by the DMV on high risk drivers convicted of drunk driving and multiple vehicle offenses. The surcharge collections are used generally to pay off the debt of the New Jersey Automobile Full Insurance Underwriting Association (an insurance pool established for high risk drivers).

      Under the bill, unpaid surcharges may be referred by the DMV to the comprehensive enforcement program; the program may retain 25% of the delinquent surcharges collected to fund the operations costs of the program. The program was created in 1995 within the present structure of the Superior Court to provide for the enforcement of court orders and oversee the collection of court-ordered fines, assessments, surcharges and judgments in the civil, criminal and family divisions, in the tax court and in certain municipal court matters.

      Finally, the bill removes the current $550,000 annual cap on funding for the operations of the comprehensive enforcement program.

      As reported by this committee, this bill is identical to Assembly Bill No. 1490 as amended and reported by this committee.

FISCAL IMPACT:

      This bill will provide the DMV with an optional procedure for the collection of delinquent surcharges; because the program is optional, it cannot be estimated at this time how much would be collected under the bill.

      However, the Administrative Office of the Courts has preliminarily estimated that with a few staff additions approximately $4 million in surcharge revenues could be collected in the first full year of operation, with the program retaining 25% of that amount, $1 million, for costs of the program, the county labor assistance programs, the enforced community service program and other programs involving the enhancement of collection efforts by the courts, including the establishment of the Comprehensive Automated Probation System.