Transportation finance: Highway Users Tax Account.

(1) The Motor Vehicle Fuel Tax Law imposes a tax of $0.18 per gallon on motor vehicle fuel, commonly referred to as gasoline. The Diesel Fuel Tax Law imposes a tax of $0.18 per gallon on diesel fuel. These revenues, after certain deductions for nonhighway fuel uses, are deposited in the Highway Users Tax Account. Approximately 13 of the revenues in the account are apportioned by various formulas to cities and counties, and most of the remaining revenues are deposited in the State Highway Account after specified transfers to the Bicycle Transportation Account and the State Parks and Recreation Fund. Under Article XIX of the California Constitution, the portion of fuel tax revenues that is derived from use in motor vehicles upon public streets and highways is restricted for expenditure on street and highway and certain mass transit guideway purposes, and up to 25% of these and other vehicle-related revenues that are available for street and highway purposes may be pledged or used for the payment of principal and interest on voter-approved bonds issued for those purposes. This bill would modify the apportionment of fuel tax revenues designated for street and highway and guideway purposes for the 2009–10 and 2010–11 fiscal years. For those years, the bill would provide for 65% of revenues to be deposited in the State Highway Account and 25% to be deposited in the Transportation Debt Service Fund. Of the remaining 10% of revenue, additional fuel tax revenues would be transferred to the Transportation Debt Service Fund in an amount equivalent to 25% of vehicle weight fee revenues for the 2009–10 fiscal year only, certain amounts would be made available to the Bicycle Transportation Account and the State Parks and Recreation Fund, and the remaining revenues would be apportioned to cities and counties by certain formulas. This bill would authorize the Director of Finance to provide a hardship exemption from reduced apportionments for 2009–10 fiscal year to a county or city under certain conditions. The bill would also provide an exemption for specified smaller cities for that fiscal year. The bill would make other related changes. This bill would also authorize the Director of Finance to reimburse the General Fund, from revenues transferred to the Transportation Debt Service Fund from the Highway Users Tax Account, any amount necessary to offset the cost of debt service payments made from the General Fund during any fiscal year for transportation-related general obligation bond expenditures consistent with specified provisions of Article XIX of the California Constitution. The bill would also provide for transfer from the Mass Transportation Fund to the Transportation Debt Service Fund of any amount of the "spillover" gasoline sales tax funds received during the 2009–10 to 2012–13 fiscal years necessary to offset the cost of debt service payments made from the General Fund during any fiscal year for transportation-related general obligation bond expenditures. (2) Existing law authorizes the county recorder to charge certain fees for recording and indexing every instrument, paper, or notice required or permitted by law to be recorded. Existing law requires $1 for recording the first page and $1 for each additional page to be available solely to support, maintain, improve, and provide for the full operation for modernized creation, retention, and retrieval of information in the county's system of recorded documents. This bill, for the 2009–10 and 2010–11 fiscal years, would authorize a county to loan the records modernization funds to the county road fund in an amount not to exceed the amount of any revenues from the Highway Users Tax Account diverted from the county in the applicable fiscal year. (3) This bill would make various findings and declarations relative to transportation funding. (4) The California Constitution authorizes the Governor to declare a fiscal emergency and to call the Legislature into special session for that purpose. The Governor issued a proclamation declaring a fiscal emergency, and calling a special session for this purpose, on July 1, 2009. This bill would state that it addresses the fiscal emergency declared by the Governor by proclamation issued on July 1, 2009, pursuant to the California Constitution.