Cal. Revenue and Taxation Code - RTC § 11151. Section 11151.
(a)
For purposes of this part, “department” means the Department of Motor Vehicles.
(b)
For purposes of this part, “county” means the City and County of San Francisco.
PART 5.6. LOCAL VEHICLE LICENSE FEE SURCHARGE [11151. - 11156.]
Cal. Revenue and Taxation Code - RTC 5.6.
in effectCal. Revenue and Taxation Code - RTC § 11152. Section 11152.
The county may impose a local vehicle license fee surcharge if both of the following occur:
(a)
The board of supervisors finds both of the following:
(1)
That there is traffic congestion within the county that can be alleviated by the operation of public transit and that the cost of funding public transit exceeds the revenues to be
collected from a vehicle license fee surcharge.
(2)
That the imposition of the vehicle license fee surcharge will reduce the need for any public transit fare increases during the period that the vehicle license fee surcharge is in effect.
(b)
The ordinance or resolution proposing the surcharge is adopted by two-thirds of the voters of the county voting on the issue.
Cal. Revenue and Taxation Code - RTC § 11152.5. Section 11152.5.
If public transit fares are increased at any time while the vehicle license fee surcharge authorized by this part is in effect, the surcharge may not continue to be imposed.
This part shall become inoperative on the date those fares are increased and
shall be repealed on January 1 next following that date. The board of supervisors shall notify the department of any increase in public transit fares occurring while the surcharge is in effect.
Cal. Revenue and Taxation Code - RTC § 11153. Section 11153.
A vehicle license fee surcharge ordinance or resolution adopted pursuant to this part shall be operative on January 1 of the year following adoption of the ordinance or resolution. A local vehicle license fee surcharge shall apply to any original registration occurring on or after that January 1, and to any renewal of registration with an expiration date on or after that January 1.
Cal. Revenue and Taxation Code - RTC § 11154. Section 11154.
The local vehicle license fee surcharge shall be imposed for the privilege of operating upon the public highways in the county any vehicle of a type that is subject to registration under the Vehicle Code, except those vehicles expressly exempted from payment of vehicle registration fees and commercial vehicles weighing more than 4,000 pounds, unladen, and shall include provisions in substance as follows:
(a)
A provision that the annual amount of the local vehicle license fee surcharge shall be a sum equal to not more than 15 percent of the vehicle license fee imposed pursuant to Part 5 (commencing with Section 10701).
(b)
A provision that the county contract prior to the effective date of the local vehicle license fee surcharge ordinance or resolution with the department to perform all functions incident to the administration or operation of the local vehicle license fee surcharge ordinance or resolution of the county.
(c)
A provision that the revenue derived from any vehicle license fee surcharge ordinance or resolution imposed pursuant to this part shall be distributed to the county for use exclusively for the provision of public transit, including capital outlay, security, and maintenance costs, and including, but not limited to, removal of graffiti from public
transit vehicles and facilities, and to pay the costs of compliance with subdivision (b) of Section 11152.
Cal. Revenue and Taxation Code - RTC § 11155. Section 11155.
All local vehicle license fee surcharge revenues, less refunds, collected by the department pursuant to a contract with a county, after deduction of the administrative costs incurred by the department in carrying out this part, shall be paid to that county.
Cal. Revenue and Taxation Code - RTC § 11156. Section 11156.
A person shall, for the purposes provided for in Section 11154, be presumed to be operating a vehicle on the public highways only in the county in which he or she resides, or, in the case of other than a natural person, only in the county in which the vehicle is principally garaged, and he or she shall be subject to a local vehicle license fee surcharge only in that county.
Source: CA Legislative Counsel Bulk DataURL: https://downloads.leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/pubinfo_2025.zipFetched: 6/27/2026