CHAPTER 287 - MOTOR VEHICLES PROVIDING FOR REGISTRATION PERIOD AND RENEWAL, CANCELLATION OF RENEWALS AND REFUND OF RENEWAL FEES; PROVIDING A CONTINGENT FUND FOR COMMISSIONER
AN ACT TO AMEND CHAPTER 165 OF THE REVISED CODE OF DELAWARE, 1935, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO MOTOR VEHICLES BY PROVIDING FOR THE REGISTRATION PERIOD AND RENEWAL, FOR THE CANCELLATION OF RENEWALS AND REFUND OF RENEWAL FEES, FOR THE REGISTRATION, TITLE AND OTHER FEES; BY PROVIDING A CONTINGENT FUND FOR COMMISSIONER AND REFUND OF RENEWAL REGISTRATION FEES.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Delaware in General Assembly met:
Section 1. That Article 2 of Chapter 165 of the Revised Code of Delaware, 1935, as amended, be and the same is hereby amended by repealing all of 5552 Section 14 of said Article 2 and by inserting in lieu thereof the following:
5552 Section 14. Registration Period and Renewal; Cancellation of Renewal and Refund of Fee:
(a) A vehicle may be registered for a period of twelve (12) months or six (6) months and the effective date of any registration shall be considered the first day of the calendar quarter in which the vehicle is registered and the required fees paid, provided, however, that any time prior to the expiration of the period for which a vehicle is registered, the registration thereof may be renewed to extend from the date of expiration for an additional period of three (3) months, six (6) months or one (1) year and in such event the effective date of the renewed registration shall be considered the first day of the calendar quarter following the period for which the vehicle is currently registered.
(b) A renewal registration of a vehicle for an additional period to take effect at the expiration of the registration thereof may be cancelled on application to the Commissioner at any time before said renewal registration is to take effect, and thereupon the vehicle commissioner shall refund to said owner the registration fee so paid for such renewal registration upon the receipt for cancellation by the said Commissioner for any such renewal registration card and/or registration plates issued pursuant to such renewal and otherwise cancel any endorsement of such renewal entered on the original card.
(c) Upon registering a vehicle the Department shall furnish a registration plate or plates as provided by Section 12 of this Article, and upon renewing the registration of any vehicle or upon re-registering any vehicle, the Department shall furnish a new registration plate or plates showing the new registration period or the expiration date thereof and shall issue a new registration card or appropriately endorse the new registration period on the original card.
(d) The registration of a vehicle shall expire at midnight on the last day of the period for which it is registered and the vehicle shall not thereafter be operated upon the highways of this State until it has been re-registered according to law, provided, however, that the provisions of this paragraph shall not apply to the operation of vehicles under temporary or limited permits or certificates as otherwise provided by this Article.
Section 2. That Chapter 165 of the Revised Code of Delaware, 1935, as amended, be and the same is hereby further amended by striking out and repealing all of 5564 Section 26 of said Chapter and by inserting in lieu thereof the following:
5564. Section 26. Registration, Title and Other Fees; Contingent Fund for Refund of Renewal Registration Fees:
(a) There shall be paid to the Department for the registration of motor vehicles required to be registered under this Act the registration and title fees as provided by this section.
(b) At the time of application for the registration of a motor vehicle, and prior to the issuance of the current registration plates required by this Article, there shall be paid to the Department registration fees according to the following schedule.
(1) For the registration of any motorcycle, Four Dollars ($4.00).
(0) For the registration of each motor vehicle commonly used for pleasure or for the chief purpose of carrying persons (except motor vehicles commonly known as passenger busses) as follows: Eight Dollars ($8.00) for any such motor vehicle having a gross load weight of four thousand (4000) pounds or less); Twelve Dollars ($12.00) for any such motor vehicle having a gross load weight of more than four thousand (4000) pounds. The gross load weight of any motor vehicle covered by this paragraph shall be the weight of the vehicle, exclusive of passengers, as specified in the application.
(1) (a) For the registration of other motor vehicles, excepting those propelled by Diesel engines, One Dollar and Fifty Cents ($1.50) for each five hundred (500) pounds or fraction thereof of the gross load weight of the vehicle up to and including five thousand (5,000) pounds, and in the event the gross load weight shall exceed five thousand (5,000) pounds, Two Dollars ($2.00) for each five hundred (500) pounds or fraction thereof over and above five thousand (5,000) pounds. The gross load weight shall be the weight of the chassis, body, equipment and maximum allowable load as specified by the application.
(b) The gross load weight of busses used for carrying persons shall be ascertained by multiplying the maximum number of persons the vehicle is provided to carry by one hundred and fifty (150) pounds and adding the result thereby obtained to the weight of the vehicle as specified in the application.
(4) For the registration of motor vehicles propelled by Diesel engines, twice the amount of the fee otherwise payable in respect of such vehicle by this Section.
(5) Whenever the Department shall be furnished with satisfactory evidence of the destruction of a motor vehicle, either as complete or to such an extent as to render it impossible to operate the same as a motor vehicle, during the period for which the same has been registered, and if the owner thereof shall desire to register another motor vehicle of the same class during the period for which such destroyed motor vehicle was registered to such owner shall be entitled to a credit on such new registration fee of the unexpired portion of the registration fee of such destroyed motor vehicle from the date of such new registration.
(c) All convertible vehicles shall be registered as commercial vehicles and the registration fee shall be ascertained upon the basis of the gross load as provided by this Section; provided, however, that it shall be determined which is the greater, the gross load weight as a carrier of persons, or the gross load weight as a carrier of property, and the greater load weight so ascertained shall be the basis for ascertaining the required registration fees. All station wagons or suburban's shall be registered as commercial vehicles and the application for registration shall show the maximum load to be transported therein.
(d) The registration fees for vehicles provided by this section shall be for a period of twelve months, but if the vehicle is registered or the registration renewed for .a six (6) months' period as provided by Section 14 of this Article, the applicant shall pay to the Department one-half of the annual registration fee established by this Section and an additional fee of One Dollar ($1.00), but if the registration is renewed for a three (3) months' period as provided by Section 14 of this Article, the applicant shall pay to the Department one-fourth of the annual registration fee established by this Section and an additional fee of One Dollar ($1.00).
(e) Number and registration plates shall be the property of the State of Delaware and shall be furnished by the Department for each registered motor vehicle without additional cost to the owner, provided, however, that whenever number or registration plates shall be lost, destroyed or effaced in such a manner as not to comply with the provisions of Section 12 of this Article new plates shall be furnished by the Department, and the owner shall pay to the Department the sum of One Dollar ($1.00) for each plate so furnished. The Department shall pay the sum of Fifty Cents ($.50) per plate for each number plate returned to the Department in accordance with the provisions of Section 15 (e) of this Article.
(f) The fee for issuing a Certificate of Title or transferring a title to a vehicle shall be One Dollar ($1.00).
(g) The fee for duplicates of certificates of title, certificates of registration, or other certificates or permits relating to motor vehicles shall be fifty cents ($.50).
(h) The fee for temporary or limited permits shall be One Dollar ($1.00) each.
(i) Manufacturers, transporters, and dealers shall pay to the Department for each calendar year the sum of Eight Dollars ($8.00) for each set of special plates issued in pursuance of the Provisions of Section 16 of this Article.
() For the registration of any well drilling machine the fee shall be $5.00 for the first five hundred (500) pounds of the gross weight of such machine and fifty cents ($.50) for each additional five hundred (500) pounds of the gross weight of such machine.
(k) The Department shall retain out of the revenue collected by it a sum sufficient to provide at all times a contingent fund of One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) out of which it shall pay any refunds for renewal registration fees provided for in Section 14 of this Chapter; said funds shall be deposited in the financial institution which is the legal depository of the State moneys and shall be disbursable on order of the Motor Vehicle Commissioner.
(1) Such vehicles as are authorized to operate or be moved as provided by Section 119 of this Chapter, shall be registered in the same manner as other vehicles, and the fee for such. registration shall be the maximum fee provided for trucks and trailers carrying a maximum load; whenever a special permit is issued as provided by Section 119 of this Chapter, the fee for issuing the same shall be one Dollar ($1.00), and in addition thereto, the sum of Two Cents ($.02) per ton per mile on the tonnage by which the total load, including the vehicle, exceeds forty thousand (40,000) pounds.
Section 3. That Article 2 of Chapter 165 of the Revised Code of Delaware, 1935, as amended by Chapter 188 Volume 44 Laws of Delaware, be and the same hereby is amended by striking out and repealing sub-paragraph (g) of 5553 Section 15 thereof and inserting in lieu thereof a new paragraph to be known as paragraph (g) thereof as follows:
(g) Whenever any motor vehicle for which a title has been issued by the Department, and whether such vehicle be registered or unregistered, shall be removed from this State, whether through transfer or otherwise, for the purpose of retitling the same in another State, the owner thereof, upon transferring and/or removing such vehicle for the purpose aforesaid, shall, in addition to complying with all the other provisions of this Section, remove the number plates, and if the vehicle is registered, the registration plates, therefrom, and shall immediately give or send such plates to the Department or an authorized representative thereof, together with a report that such vehicle is to be re-titled in another State. If the Department is satisfied that such vehicle is to be removed from this State for the purpose aforesaid, the title to such vehicle shall be cancelled and the Department shall pay the sum of fifty cents ($.50) per plate for each number plate returned to the Department in accordance with the provisions of this sub-paragraph, and said Department shall also refund unto the owner thereof who complies with the provisions of this Section the pro-rata proportion of the registration fees for the unexpired period for which said motor vehicle was so registered.
Section 4. This Act shall become effective July 1, 1945.
Approved April 19, 1945.