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1997 SESSION
978216736Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That §§ 46.2-102 and 46.2-752 of the Code of Virginia are amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 46.2-102. Enforcement by law-enforcement officers; officers to be uniformed; officers to be paid fixed salaries.
State police officers and law-enforcement officers of every county, city, town,
or other political subdivision of the Commonwealth shall enforce the provisions
of this title punishable as felonies, misdemeanors, or traffic infractions.
Additionally, notwithstanding § 52-22, state police officers may enforce
local ordinances, adopted under subsection G of § 46.2-752,
requiring the obtaining and displaying of local motor vehicle licenses. Fifty
percent of the revenue collected from such enforcement shall be remitted by the
locality to the Department of State Police and disposed of by the Department to
cover its costs of operation. Every law-enforcement officer shall be uniformed
at the time of the enforcement or shall display his badge or other sign of
authority. All officers making arrests incident to the enforcement of this
title shall be paid fixed salaries for their services and shall have no
interest in, nor be permitted by law to accept the benefit of, any fine or fee
resulting from the arrest or conviction of an offender against any provision of
this title.
With the consent of the landowner, any such officer or other uniformed employee of the local law-enforcement agency may patrol the landowner's property to enforce state, county, city, or town motor vehicle registration and licensing requirements.
Any law-enforcement officer may patrol the streets and roads within subdivisions of real property or within land submitted to a horizontal property regime pursuant to Chapter 4.1 (§ 55-79.1 et seq.) or 4.2 (§ 55-79.39 et seq.) of Title 55, which streets and roads are maintained by the owners of the lots or parcels of land within the subdivision or the owners of condominium units within any horizontal property regime or any association of owners, on the request or with the consent of the owners or association of owners, to enforce the provisions of this title punishable as felonies, misdemeanors, or traffic infractions.
§ 46.2-752. Taxes and license fees imposed by counties, cities, and towns; limitations on amounts; disposition of revenues; requiring evidence of payment of certain taxes, fees, and accounts; prohibiting display of licenses after expiration; failure to display valid local license required by other localities.
A. Except as provided in § 46.2-755, counties, cities, and towns may levy and assess taxes and charge license fees on motor vehicles, trailers, and semitrailers. However, none of these taxes and license fees shall be assessed or charged by any county on vehicles owned by residents of any town located in the county when such town constitutes a separate school district if the vehicles are already subject to town license fees and taxes. The amount of the license fee or tax imposed by any county, city, or town on any motor vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer shall not be greater than the amount of the license tax imposed by the Commonwealth on the motor vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer. The license fees and taxes shall be imposed in such manner, on such basis, for such periods, and subject to proration for fractional periods of years, as the proper local authorities may determine. Local licenses may be issued free of charge for any or all of the following:
1. Vehicles powered by clean special fuels as defined in § 58.1-2101, including dual-fuel and bi-fuel vehicles,
2. Vehicles owned by volunteer rescue squads,
3. Vehicles owned by volunteer fire departments,
4. Vehicles owned by active members of volunteer rescue squads,
5. Vehicles owned by active members of volunteer fire departments,
6. Vehicles owned by auxiliary police officers,
7. Vehicles owned by volunteer police chaplains,
8. Vehicles owned by surviving spouses of persons qualified to receive special license plates under § 46.2-739,
9. Vehicles owned by auxiliary deputy sheriffs,
10. Vehicles owned by persons qualified to receive special license plates under § 46.2-739,
11. Vehicles owned by any of the following who served at least ten years in the locality: former members of volunteer rescue squads, former members of volunteer fire departments, former auxiliary police officers, former volunteer police chaplains, and former volunteer special police officers appointed under § 15.1-144. In the case of active members of volunteer rescue squads and volunteer fire departments, applications for such licenses shall be accompanied by written evidence, in a form acceptable to the locality, of their active membership, and no member shall be issued more than one such license free of charge, or
12. All vehicles having a situs for the impostion of licensing fees under this section in the locality.
The governing body of any county, city, or town issuing licenses free of charge under this subsection may by ordinance provide for (i) the limitation, restriction, or denial of such free issuance to an otherwise qualified applicant and (ii) the grounds for such limitation, restriction, or denial.
The situs for the imposition of licensing fees under this section shall in all cases, except as hereinafter provided, be the county, city, or town in which the motor vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer is normally garaged, stored, or parked. If it cannot be determined where the personal property is normally garaged, stored, or parked, the situs shall be the domicile of its owner. In the event the owner of the motor vehicle is a full-time student attending an institution of higher education, the situs shall be the domicile of such student, provided the student has presented sufficient evidence that he has paid a personal property tax on the motor vehicle in his domicile.
B. The revenue derived from all county, city, or town taxes and license fees imposed on motor vehicles, trailers, or semitrailers shall be applied to general county, city, or town purposes.
C. A county, city, or town may require that no motor vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer shall be locally licensed until the applicant has produced satisfactory evidence that all personal property taxes on the motor vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer to be licensed have been paid and satisfactory evidence that any delinquent motor vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer personal property taxes owing have been paid which have been properly assessed or are assessable against the applicant by the county, city, or town. A county, city, or town may also provide that no motor vehicle license shall be issued unless the tangible personal property taxes properly assessed or assessable by that locality on any tangible personal property used or usable as a dwelling titled by the Department of Motor Vehicles and owned by the taxpayer have been paid. Any county and any town within any such county may by agreement require that all personal property taxes assessed by either the county or the town on any vehicle be paid before licensure of such vehicle by either the county or the town.
D. [ A county, city, or town Any city
having a population of more than 390,000 ] may require that no
motor vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer shall be locally licensed until the
applicant has produced satisfactory evidence that any and all accounts due and
payable to such county, city, or town or to its local school board, have been
paid in full. Any county and any town within any such county may by agreement
require that that any and all accounts due and payable to such town be paid
before licensure of such vehicle by either the county or the town.
D E. The Counties of Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun, and
Prince William and towns within them and any city may require that no motor
vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer shall be licensed by that jurisdiction unless
all fines owed to the jurisdiction by the owner of the vehicle, trailer, or
semitrailer for violation of the jurisdiction's ordinances governing parking of
vehicles have been paid. The provisions of this subsection shall not apply to
vehicles owned by firms or companies in the business of renting motor vehicles.
E F. If in any county imposing license fees and taxes
under this section, a town therein imposes like fees and taxes on vehicles of
owners resident in the town, the owner of any vehicle subject to the fees or
taxes shall be entitled, on the owner's displaying evidence that he has paid
the fees or taxes, to receive a credit on the fees or taxes imposed by the
county to the extent of the fees or taxes he has paid to the town. Nothing in
this section shall deprive any town now imposing these licenses and taxes from
increasing them or deprive any town not now imposing them from hereafter doing
so, but subject to the limitations provided in subsection D of this section.
The governing body of any county and the governing body of any town in that
county wherein each imposes the license tax herein provided may provide mutual
agreements so that not more than one license plate or decal in addition to the
state plate shall be required.
F G. Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection E
F of this section, in a consolidated county wherein a
tier-city exists, the tier-city may, in accordance with the provisions of the
agreement or plan of consolidation, impose license fees and taxes under this
section in addition to those fees and taxes imposed by the county, provided
that the combined county and tier-city rates do not exceed the maximum provided
in subsection A of this section. No credit shall be allowed on the fees or
taxes imposed by the county for fees or taxes paid to the tier-city, except as
may be provided by the consolidation agreement or plan. The governing body of
any county and the governing body of any tier-city in said county wherein each
imposes the license tax herein may provide by mutual agreement that no more
than one license plate or decal in addition to the state license plate shall be
required.
G H. Any county, city, or town may by ordinance provide
that it shall be unlawful for any owner or operator of a motor vehicle,
trailer, or semitrailer to fail to obtain and display the local license
required by any ordinance of the county, city or town in which the vehicle is
registered or to display upon a motor vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer any such
local license after its expiration date. The ordinance may provide that a
violation shall constitute a misdemeanor the penalty for which shall not exceed
that of a Class 4 misdemeanor and may, in the case of a motor vehicle
registered to a resident of the locality where such vehicle is registered,
authorize the issuance by local law-enforcement officers of citations,
summonses, parking tickets, or uniform traffic summonses for violations. Any
such ordinance may also provide that a violation of the ordinance by the
registered owner of the vehicle may not be discharged by payment of a fine
except upon presentation of satisfactory evidence that the required license has
been obtained.
H I. Except as provided by subsections
EF and FG, no vehicle shall be
subject to taxation under the provisions of this section in more than one
jurisdiction.
I J. Purchasers of new or used motor vehicles shall be
allowed at least a ten-day grace period, beginning with the date of purchase,
during which to pay license fees charged by local governments under authority
of this section.
J K. Beginning October 1, 1992, the treasurer or director
of finance of any county, city, or town may enter into an agreement with the
Commissioner whereby the Commissioner will refuse to issue or renew any vehicle
registration of any applicant therefor who owes to such county, city or town
any delinquent tangible personal property tax levied with respect to such
vehicle in excess of $100. Before being issued any vehicle registration or
renewal of such license or registration by the Commissioner, the applicant must
first satisfy all such delinquent taxes and present evidence satisfactory to
the Commissioner that all such delinquent taxes have been paid in full. The
Commissioner shall charge a reasonable fee to cover the costs of such
enforcement action. The treasurer or director of finance of any county, city,
or town seeking to collect delinquent taxes through the withholding of
registration or renewal thereof by the Commissioner as provided for in this
subsection shall notify the Commissioner in the manner provided for in his
agreement with the Commissioner and supply to the Commissioner information
necessary to identify the debtor whose registration or renewal is to be denied.
Any agreement entered into pursuant to the provisions of this subsection shall
provide the debtor notice of the intent to deny renewal of registration at
least thirty days prior to the expiration date of a current vehicle
registration. For the purposes of this subsection, notice by first-class mail
to the registrant's address as maintained in the records of the Department of
Motor Vehicles shall be deemed sufficient.
K L. The governing bodies of any two or more counties,
cities, or towns may enter into compacts for the regional enforcement of local
motor vehicle license requirements. The governing body of each participating
jurisdiction may by ordinance require the owner or operator of any motor
vehicle, trailer, or semitrailer to display on his vehicle a valid local
license issued by another county, city, or town that is a party to the regional
compact, provided that the owner or operator is required by the jurisdiction of
situs, as provided in § 58.1-3511, to obtain and display such license. The
ordinance may provide that a violation shall constitute a misdemeanor the
penalty for which shall not exceed that of a Class 4 misdemeanor. Any such
ordinance may also provide that a violation of the ordinance by the owner of
the vehicle may not be discharged by payment of a fine except upon presentation
of satisfactory evidence that the required license has been obtained.