ORDER NO. 15609
OPTIONAL COUNTY REGISTRATION FEE
On this the 13th day of August 1984, upon motion made
by Commissioner Holland, seconded by Commissioner Guthrie,
it was unanimously approved by the Court that Kerr County
will not impose an extra fee of five dollars ($5.00) for
each vehicle registered in the County, in accordance with
Article 6675a-1 et seq., Vernon"s Texas Civil Statutes..

COMMISSION
STATE DEPARTMENT OF HIGHWAYS
AND PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION
ENGINEER~DIRECTOR
MARK G. GOODE
ROBERT C. LAMER, CHAIRMAN
ROBERT H. DEDMAN
JOHN R. BUTLER, JR.
MOTOR VEHICLE INFORMATION CIRCULAR NO. 27-83
SUBJECT: HOUSE BILL 965 - OPTIONAL $5 COUNTY
FEE - COUNTY IN WHICH TO APPLY FOR
REGISTRATION
TO: ALL COUNTY TAX ASSESSOR-COLLECTORS
Ladies and Gentlemen:
IN REPLY REFER TO
FILE NO. D12-1
Attached hereto is a copy of House Bill 965, Acts of the 68th
Texas Legislature, Regular Session, 1983.
This bill amends the Registration Law by providing the counties
with the option of imposing an extra fee of Five Dollars ($5)
in addition to the regular registration fee for each vehicle
registered in the county. Four Dollars and Eighty-five Cents
($4.85) of the additional fee collected will be retained by the
county for deposit in the County Road and Bridge Fund with the
remaining Fifteen Cents (15C) being remitted to the Department.
As you will notice, the provisions of this portion of the bill
do not become effective until January 1, 1985. However, if
your county desires to implement the optional Five Dollar ($5)
fee, the county commissioners court must issue an order and
notify the Department on or before September 1, 1984. Other-
wise, you will not have this option again until January 1, 1990.
We will furnish you with detailed instructions regarding the
implementation of this program at a later date.
In addition, House Bill 965 provides statutory authority for an
applicant to apply for registration and title in the county in
which he resides, the county in which the vehicle is purchased,
MOTOR VEHICLE DIVISION
AUSTIN, TEXAS 78779
August 16, 1983
(over)
MOTOR VEHICLE INFORMATION CIRCULAR NO. 27-83
August 16, 1983
Page Two
or the county in which the lienholder is located. All sub-
sequent registrations of the vehicle by such owner must be
obtained through the county tax collector of the county in
which the owner resides. The effective date of this portion
of the bill is August 29, 1983.
Sincerely yours,
M. G. Goode
Engineer-Director
By: .
R. W. Townsley, D' ector
Motor Vehicle Division
RWT:fh
Attachment
House Bill 965
As Finally Passed And
Signed By The Governor
Effective August 29, 1983
AN ACT
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 88, General Laws, Acts of the 41st Legis-
lature, 2nd Called Session, 1929 (Article 6675a-1 et seq., Vernon's
Texas Civil Statutes), is amended by adding Section 9a to read as
follows:
Sec. 9a. OPTIONAL COUNTY REGISTRATION FEE. (a) The Commis-
sinners Court of a County by order. may imposeL in addition to the
fee im osed by this Act for registering a vehicle in this State,
an extra fee of Five Dollars ($5) for each vehicle registered in
the County• A vehicle that may be registered under this Act with-
out pavment of a registration fee may be registered in the County
without payment of the extra fee.
(b) A county may impose a fee under this section only to take
effect beginning January 1 of a year ending in a "5"_or a "0."
The county shall adopt the order and notify the Department on or
before September 1 of the vear preceding the Year in which the fee
takes effect. Imposition of the fee may be removed but the removal
may only become effective beginning January 1 of a year ending in a
"5" or a "0." A county may remove the fee only by:
H. B. 965
Page 2
(1) rescinding the order imposin the fee• and
(2) notifyin the Department on or before September 1 of the
year preceding the year in which the removal takes effect
(c) The County Tax Collector of a County imposin a fee under
this section shall collect the extra fee for a vehicle simultaneously
with the collection of other fees imposed under this Act for the
vehicle.
Id) The Department shall collect the extra fee on a vehicle
owned by a resident of a County imposing a fee under Subsection (a)
of this section that under this Act must be registered directly
with the Department. The Department shall remit all fees collected
for the County under this subsection to the County Treasurer for
deposit in the County Road and Bridge Fund.
(e) The Department shall adopt rules and develop forms necessary
to administer registration by mail for vehicles registerin in a
County imposing a fee under Subsection (a) of this section
SECTION 2. Section 10, Chapter 88, General Laws, Acts of the
41st Legislature, 2nd Called Session, 1929 (Article 6675a-10,
Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended by amending Subsections
(a) and (d) and by adding Subsection (c-1) to read as follows:
(a) Except as provided by Subsection (c-1) of this section
on [en] Monday of each week each County Tax Collector shall deposit
H. B. 965
Page 3
in the County Depository of his County to the credit of the County
Road and Bridge Fund an amount equal to one hundred per cent (100)
of net collections made hereunder during the preceding week until
the amount so deposited for the current calendar year shall have
reached a total sum of Fifty Thousand Dollars ($50,000) plus Three
Hundred and Fifty Dollars ($350) for each mile of county road, not
to exceed five hundred (500) miles, maintained by the County accord-
ing to the latest data available from the State Department of Highways
and Public Transportation.
(c-1) On Monday of each week each County Tax Collector in a
County imposing a fee under Section 9a of this Act shall deposit in
the County Depository of the County to the credit of the County
Road and Bridge Fund, an amount equal to ninety-seven per cent (97$)
of the extra fees collected under Section 9a of this Act. The
County Tax Collector shall remit to the Department the remaining
three per cent (3~) to defray costs incurred by the De artment in
administering its duties under Section 9a of this Act.
(d) Except as provided by Subsection (c-1) of this section,
the [eke] County Tax Collector may defer remittance to the Depart-
ment of fees collected under this Act if the fees are deposited
in a daily interest savings account in the County Depository. The
County Tax Collector shall remit to the Department fees so deposited
H. B. 965
Page 9
no later than the thirty-fourth (34th) day after the due dates set
forth in Subsections (b) and (c) of this section.
SECTION 3. A fee imposed by a county under Section 9a, Chapter
88, General Laws, Acts of the 41st Legislature, 2nd Called Session,
1929 (Article 6675a-1 et seq., Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), ap-
plies to a registration period that begins on or after the date the
fee takes effect.
SECTION 4. Section 2, Chapter 88, General Laws, Acts of the
41st Legislature, 2nd Called Session, 1929 (Article 6675a-2, Vernon's
Texas Civil Statutes), is amended by adding Subsection (a-1) to
read as follows:
(a-1) Notwithstanding the provisions of Subsection (a) above,
when a motor vehicle is required to be registered as a prerequisite
to the acceptance of an application for certificate of title, the
owner thereof may concurrently file an application for certificate
of title and apply for the registration of such motor vehicle
through the County Tax Collector in the county of his domicile or
the county in which the vehicle is purchased or encumbered, provided,
however, that all subsequent registrations of the motor vehicle by
such owner must be obtained through the County Tax Collector of the
county in which the owner resides.
H. B. 965
Page 5
SECTION 5. Section 27, Certificate of Title Act (Article 6687-1,
Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 27. APPLICATION FOR CERTIFICATE OF TITLE BEFORE SALE.
Before selling or disposing of any motor vehicle required to be reg-
istered or licensed in this State on any highway or public place
within this State, except with dealer's metal or cardboard license
number thereto attached as now provided by law, the owner shall make
application to the designated agent in the county of his domicile or
the county in which the vehicle is purchased or encumbered upon form
to be prescribed by the Department for a certificate of title for
such motor vehicle.
SECTION 6. Article 6687-6, Revised Statutes, is amended to
read as follows:
Art. 6687-6. SECONDHAND VEHICLE TRANSFERS. The current year
registration license receipt and the properly assigned Certificate of
Title or other evidence of title required to be delivered to the
transferee of a used or secondhand vehicle under the terms of
Article 6687-5, Revised Civil Statutes of Texas, 1925, as amended,
shall be filed by the transferee within twenty (20) working days of
the date of transfer with the County Tax Assessor-Collector [ef-the
eenntp-rn-Nhieh-the-~~ass€e~ee-resides] as an application for transfer
of title as required under the Certificate of Title Act, as amended
H. B. 965
Page 6
(Article 6687-1, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), and as an applica-
tion for transfer of license and in addition to the fees required
under the Certificate of Title Act, as amended (Article 6687-1,
Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), for the transfer of title there shall
be paid a transfer fee of fifty cents (50C) for the transfer of reg-
istration; provided that if said transferee does not file said ap-
plications within twenty (20) working days a penalty or fee of Five
Dollars ($5) shall be paid upon the filing of such application and
such penalty shall be collected for each vehicle upon application
filed by the transferee. The Tax Assessor-Collector and his bonds-
men shall be liable for the penalty herein provided in the event such
penalty is not collected. For his services under this Act the
County Tax Assessor-Collector shall retain as commission one-half
(112) of fees collected Łor transfer of registration and one-half (1/2)
oŁ any penalties collected for delinquent filing of applications and
the other one-half (1/2) such fees and penalties shall be reported
to and remitted to the State Department of Highways and Public
Transportation on Monday of each week as other registration fees are
now required to be reported and remitted. Upon receipt of an appli-
cation for transfer of Certificate of Title and registration the ap-
plication for transfer of title shall be handled by the Tax Assessor-
Collector as provided under the Certificate of Title Act, as amended
H. B. 965
Page 7
(Article 6687-1, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), and in addition the
Department shall issue or cause to be issued a transfer of registra-
tion receipt on the application for transfer of registration. The
Department may promulgate such reasonable rules and regulations and
prescribe such forms as it shall deem necessary to carry out the
orderly operation of this Act. It is expressly provided that upon
the transfer of any vehicle from one person to another in the State
of Texas, all papers or documents relating to or supporting transfer
of registration and/or Certificate of Title shall be executed in full
and dated as of the date of such transfer, and any person who shall
transfer a vehicle and execute such papers or documents as provided
for herein wholly or partly in blank leaving out any information that
is required to be furnished, shall be guilty of a mesdemeanor and
shall be fined in any sum not less than Fifty Dollars ($50) and not
exceeding Two Hundred Dollars ($200). It is further provided than
any transferee who accepts transfer papers as herein provided ex-
ecuted wholly or partly in blank or any person who alters, changes,
or mutilates such transfer papers, or whoever violates any provision
of this Section for which no specific penalty is provided shall be
guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be fined in any sum not less than
Fifty Dollars ($50) nor exceeding Two Hundred Dollars ($200). In
this Article, the term "working day" means any day except Saturday,
Sunday, or a holiday on which county offices are closed.
Certified copies mailed 8/27/84
to Austin and San Antonio
to State Department of Highways
& Public Transportation
Addresses attached,
TATS DEPARTMENT OF HIGHWAY AND PUBLIC TRAFJSPORTATIOfJ
MOTOR VEHICLE DIVISION
4243 PIEDRAS DR, EAST
SUITE 155
SAN ANTONIO, TX 78228
STATE DEPARTMENT OF HiGHWgyS qlp p11BLIC TRANSPORTgTION
MOTOR VEHICLE DIVISION
40TH AI,~ JACKSON AVER
AUSTIN, TEXAS 78779