Testimony OPPOSED to SB3280
(with concerns noted)
Relating to Abandoned Vehicles; Certificate of Ownership; Deposit
Submitted by the Hawaii Automobile Dealers Association
Hawaii’s franchised new car dealers
to the Senate Committee on Energy, Environment and International Affairs
for the hearing, 1:15 p.m. Tuesday, February 7, 2006
Conference Room 224, Hawaii State Capitol
Chair English and members of the committee:
Or Association has serious reservations about SB 3280 which proposes to
impose an advance refundable vehicle disposal fee of $100 refunded to the
registered owner at the time the vehicle is surrendered to a county vehicle
disposal center. The problem is: the owner at the time of disposal will likely not
the person who paid the fee for disposal. Adequate funding is not the problem.
Automobiles, as a product, are already the most recycled consumer product sold.
There are vehicles, however, which are abandoned by irresponsible individuals.
The Counties and the State already have “beautification fees” charged upon the
annual registration of vehicles to handle the job of recycling abandoned vehicles.
These charges total $10 on Oahu ($5 for the State and $5 for the City and
County). Alone, on this island, this raises $6 million, which is far in excess of the
funds needed for abandoned vehicle cleanup.
If individuals who are registered owners at the time of disposal, are, by this
measure, to be refunded the $100 payment made there are multiple problems.
First, a certificate of ownership is held by the financing institution until the
vehicle’s loan is paid off. This certificate is often mailed to an individual who has
left the island.
Other problematic issues with this proposal include the fact that the vehicle’s
purchaser is likely on the one who will NOT receive the refund of the $100 fee.
The vehicle will likely have had several owners by the time is it surrendered for
recycling.
The $100 disposal fee is like charging the purchaser for someone else’s parking
tickets.
HADA testimony, page 2
Charging $100 on each new car purchased would likely raise $17,000,000…(we
estimate 70,000 new cars and more than 100,000 used cars are sold each
year…creating a fund many times more than the cost of cleaning up the current
abandoned vehicles, a job which has already been charged to motorists through
the beautification fees. (We do not have data on used vehicles sold, this is an
estimate based on a typical ratio in a marketplace of new and used sales).
Further, many military individuals, and others who eventually move out of state
and ship their vehicles out, would be purchasing new vehicles in Hawaii and
eventually shipping these vehicles to next duty stations or new states of
residence. This would cause the $100 disposal fees to be simply pocketed by
the State.
The issue here, is that the Counties already have abandoned vehicle disposal
procedures and funds which are charged to motorists annually for the purpose of
handling these abandoned vehicles. These State and County funds together
exceed $6 million on Oahu ($10 x 600,000 vehicles registered). These two
funds, (State and City and County of Honolulu) are already more than adequate
to handle the abandoned vehicle problem from a funding standpoint.
Further, this measure places responsibility for the problems of abandoned
vehicle disposal on individuals who are, most likely, not the cause of the
problems. .
We respectfully as you to hold SB3280.
Respectfully submitted,
THE HAWAII AUTOMOBILE DEALERS ASSOCIATION
David H. Rolf
Executive Director
1100 Alakea St. Suite 2601
Honolulu, Hawaii 96813
Tel: 808 593-0031
Cel: 808 23-6015
Fax: 808 593-0569