This wooden bridge carrying CO 67 over a draw in Teller County was built in 1939 and is one of the 124 poor-rated bridges FASTER is designed to replace. CDOT photo.

By Kevin Flynn
Inside-Lane.com

The beefed-up late fees that came with last year’s FASTER bill to fund repair of the state’s unsafe bridges and poor-condition roadways had the well-documented result of angering procrastinating motorists who found themselves hit with late charges up to $100 instead of $10.

But they have also had a much quieter and positive effect.

More and more people are registering their vehicles on time rather than letting their expired registrations lag.

That is reflected in an estimate put together by the Colorado Legislative Council, the nonpartisan analytical arm of the General Assembly.

According to a fiscal note prepared for analysis of HB 1173, which would restore to county clerks some discretion to waive FASTER late fees in circumstances beyond the control of a vehicle owner, late fees for the upcoming fiscal year that starts in July are projected to be only a small percentage of what they were in the first year.

Complete numbers are unavailable for the current year – obviously, we’re still in it – but in just the first six months that FASTER was in effect, late fee revenue amounted to $11.8 million from July through December.

While the second six months, through this June, are unlikely to see that level, it will only add to the total.

But for the 2010-11 fiscal year, Legislative Council’s projection for late fees is much less, an indication that the publicity has owners going through their piles of paperwork and making sure they register on time.

“Based on the current declining trend in late vehicle registrations, approximately $4.3 million in total late fees will be collected in FY 2010-11,” the council fiscal analyst Kurtis Morrison wrote in the memo.

That means the entire 12-month projection for next year is only 36 percent of the six-month total from last year, a huge drop in revenue but a big improvement in citizen compliance with on-time vehicle registration.

In the original bill last year, the legislative council had predicted that the break-in period of FASTER would see somewhat of a surge in late fees due to raising them from a flat $10 for any duration to $25 per month up to four months. But it also said that after this “initial period, collections from late registration fees are not expected to be significant.”

FASTER is anticipated to raise from $200 to $250 million a year – the bridge replacement fee is being implemented in three annual stages, hence the increasing amount over time. It was the first new revenue to come into the state’s Highway Users Tax Fund in 18 years, since Colorado’s gas tax last was increased in 1991.

FASTER revenue is earmarked for repair or replacement of CDOT’s 124 poor-rated bridges and for repair of poor-rated roadways. The road repair money is shared among CDOT, counties and municipalities through the state Highway Users Tax Fund. CDOT must also spend at least $10 million in FASTER revenue each year on transit-related projects that improve state highway safety for transit users.

Even though late fees are declining precipitously, the legislature is debating this year over at least a half dozen bills in response to the outrage with which motorists greeted the fees last summer.

Two bills have advanced.

One, sponsored by FASTER’s prime mover from last year, Democratic Rep. Joe Rice of Littleton, and Sen. Gail Schwartz, a Democrat from Pitkin County, would allow clerks to consider certain circumstances, such as acts of God and weather-related delays, office closures and medical hardships. HB 1212 bill directs the Department of Revenue to write the rules and regulations and ensure the policy is uniform across the state.

The full House has passed that on to the Senate, along with another bill, HB 1211. That one would limit total late fees to $10 on non-motorized vehicles such as utility trailers that weigh up to 2,000 pounds, no matter how long the delay in registering.

Sponsored by Rep. Max Tyler, a Jefferson County Democrat, and Sen. Suzanne Williams, an Arapahoe County Democrat, HB 1211 would allow the county governments to retain that $10 instead of going into the FASTER program.

It would leave in place the $25 monthly late fees, up to a cap of $100, on late registrations of other vehicles including cars. Under previous law, clerks could waive all or a portion of the fees. FASTER did away with that discretion.

Other bills dealing with FASTER are awaiting committee action:
• HB 1102 (Rep. Carol Murray, R-Castle Rock, and Sen. Mike Kopp, R-Littleton): Reduces the late fee to a maximum of $25 for non-motorized vehicles weighing 2,000 pounds or less; exempts the fee for owners who provide an affidavit stating they have not operated the vehicle on a public highway; exempts mobile machinery and self-propelled construction equipment whose owners provide an affidavit that the machinery or equipment has not been operated at all.
• HB 1173 (Rep. Brian DelGrosso, R-Loveland, and Sen. Scott Renfroe, R-Greeley): Prohibits imposition of late fees for any portion of a calendar month in which a temporary registration plate, tag, or certificate expires; allows county clerks to waive a late fee based on circumstances beyond the control of the vehicle owner.
• HB 1268 (Rep. Steve King, R-Grand Junction): Requires the state to implement an two-year registration program for most vehicles that is optional to vehicle owners, and which if the owner selects it would exempt the owner from late fees.
• SB 4 (Sen. Al White, R-Hayden): Repeals the new late fees and restores the previous flat $10 fee that can be waived at the discretion of the county clerks.
• SB 44 (Sen. Kevin Lundberg, R-Berthoud, and Rep. Kent Lambert, R-Colorado Springs): Repeals the new late fees and restores the previous flat $10 fee that can be waived at the discretion of the county clerks.
• SB 57 (Sen. Bill Cadman, R-Colorado Springs): Applies FASTER late fees only to motorized vehicles and mobile machinery; all non-motorized vehicle would be subject only to a single late fee of $10, which clerks could waive as before; all late fees for non-motorized vehicles would be retained by the county governments rather than going into the state Highway Users Tax Fund.
• SB 137 (Sen. Renfroe and Rep. Cory Gardner, R-Yuma): Creates new class of registration called “no street use” allowing vehicle owners to idle unused vehicles and be exempt from paying any FASTER fees at all. Tabs would be distinctive colors and vehicles owners would be subject to additional penalties if found to be driving it on public roads.