Business, Transportation and Housing

The Business, Transportation, and Housing Agency includes programs that plan, build, and maintain California’s state transportation systems; ensure efficient and fair markets for the real estate industry, health care plans and certain financial businesses; and assist community efforts to expand the availability of affordable housing for a growing workforce. In addition, the Agency contributes to public safety through the law enforcement activities of the California Highway Patrol and the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. Information on the Highway Patrol’s budget can be found in the Corrections and Law Enforcement section.

Figure BTH-1 displays the funding proposed in the Business, Transportation, and Housing portion of the Governor’s Budget. The majority of the funding is provided from special fund revenues and federal funds. Significant General Fund expenditures are made for general obligation bond debt service for transportation projects and bridge seismic retrofit, to fund transportation projects and operations pursuant to Chapter 91, Statutes of 2000, and to support a variety of programs in the Department of Housing and Community Development.

The Department of Transportation, the California Transportation Commission, the California Highway Patrol, the Department of Motor Vehicles, the Office of Traffic Safety, and local government agencies administer transportation and related public safety programs. Transportation funding comes from State and federal fuel taxes, the sales and use tax on fuel, motor vehicle license and registration fees, weight fees for trucks, and local sales taxes. In 2000, a significant source of General Fund transportation revenue became available with the creation of the Traffic Congestion Relief Fund and the Transportation Investment Fund. The Budget proposes total expenditures of $11.6 billion in 2001-02 for roads, highways, mass transit and intercity rail, vehicle licensing and registration, and highway law enforcement.

The Department of Transportation (Caltrans) constructs, operates, and maintains a comprehensive transportation system with more than 50,000 miles of highway and freeway lanes. In addition, Caltrans provides intercity rail passenger services under contract with Amtrak as well as technical assistance and development loans to more than 100 of California’s public general aviation airports.

The Budget proposes almost $9.6 billion in 2001-02 expenditures for Caltrans from federal funds, various State funds and reimbursements, and staffing of 23,111.2 personnel years. This amount includes $2.3 billion for programs that assist local governments in constructing and operating highway, road, and transit systems and $4.2 billion in spending on capital projects.

Transportation projects and operations generally are supported from dedicated funding sources. This allows multi-year planning processes to consider sufficient funds to allow large projects to be funded; all regional and local agencies to participate in project selection to meet local needs; and State-level interregional priorities to be considered. Caltrans’ budgets for local and State capital projects reflect decisions—mostly outside the budget process—to select projects from four major sources of funds. Two funding sources are longstanding:

• The State Highway Account and federal funds, which are used to fund projects selected through the State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) and the State Highway Operations and Protection Program.
• The Public Transportation Account, which funds transit and intercity rail capital projects as well as providing funds for operations. Projects can be selected through the STIP as well as other processes.

New sources are the result of legislation enacted in 2000 and appear in the Budget for the first time:

• The Traffic Congestion Relief Fund, which supports 142 projects and studies designated in the authorizing statute.
• The Transportation Investment Fund, which provides a fixed amount to the Traffic Congestion Relief Fund annually, with the remainder divided between three programs:

• The STIP (40 percent).
• A new program of formula grants for local street and road repairs (40 percent).
• The Public Transportation Account (20 percent).

Additional details about these funding sources and highlights of their uses in this Budget follow (see Figure BTH-2 for a graphical presentation of the relationships between these programs).

2000 Legislation Expands Sources of Transportation Financing

In 2000, the Legislature and the Administration enacted historic legislation, Chapters 91, 92, and 656, Statutes of 2000, creating a six-year funding plan for state and local transportation needs, estimated at that time to add $6.9 billion in General Fund resources to existing transportation funds. Of this amount, $2 billion was provided in 2000-01 for the newly established Traffic Congestion Relief Fund (TCRF)—$1.5 billion as a General Fund appropriation and $500 million as a transfer of a portion of the General Fund share of the sales tax on gasoline. This Fund supports a multi-year spending plan described below under "Traffic Congestion Relief Program." The 2000 transportation plan provides another $3.39 billion for the TCRF in future years, for a total of $5.39 billion for congestion relief.

The $1.5 billion balance of funding for the $6.9 billion 2000 transportation plan will be provided over the five-year period 2001-02 to 2005-06 from the newly established Transportation Investment Fund (TIF). The TIF receives revenues from a quarterly transfer of the General Fund share of the sales tax on gasoline, allocated as follows: $678 million per year to the TCRF to complete that program’s resource plan. Of any remaining funds, 40 percent is apportioned to cities and counties for repair of streets and roads, 40 percent to augment STIP funding, and 20 percent to the Public Transportation Account (PTA).

Due to growth in gasoline sales tax revenues, the 2000 transportation legislation is currently estimated to provide a total of $8.2 billion for transportation projects and operations, rather than the $6.9 billion earlier estimated (see Figure BTH-3).

Other significant changes made by the legislation include increasing the time period covered by each STIP from four years to five, and authorizing regional agencies to exchange ("swap") their federal transportation funds for less restricted Traffic Congestion Relief Program funds so as to expedite local project delivery.

Major Transportation Capital Programs

The Budget estimates $4 billion for transportation capital outlay programs (excluding buildings), an increase of $834.3 million over 2000-01 and $1.7 billion over 1999-00. Major expenditures are described below.

Traffic Congestion Relief Program—Revenues to the TCRF are set by statute—$2 billion in 2000-01 and $678 million annually for five years from the TIF beginning in 2001-02 (see below). With resources totaling $5.39 billion over six years, the TCRF supports 142 high-priority projects identified in statute to relieve traffic congestion and enhance goods movement throughout California. In addition, the TCRF provides $400 million in 2000-01 for repairs to local streets and roads. The California Transportation Commission (CTC) allocates project funds to Caltrans and local sponsoring agencies upon approval of individual project funding plans. Funds for local streets and roads are allocated through the State Controller’s Office using a formula based on population, vehicles, and local road miles—similar to gas tax apportionments. This allocation was made in full in October 2000.

Expenditures on TCRF projects depend upon the timing of applications from project sponsors and how long each project will take. From September through December 2000, 34 percent of TCRF projects (48 of the 142) applied for and received project funding approval exceeding $565 million , representing about 11 percent of the total funds available. Caltrans expects $400 million of TCRF project expenditures to occur in 2000-01 and $720 million in 2001-02. (The Shared Revenues budget—Item 9350—includes the $400 million in 2000-01 for streets and roads from the TCRF, and the High Speed Rail Authority’s budget includes the $5 million for its environmental assessment work.) Caltrans predicts that the majority of revenues in the TCRF will be spent over the next four years, although a few major projects may take several years to reach phases that obligate significant funds.

The Traffic Congestion Relief Program allows regional transportation planning agencies to "swap" specified federal funds for TCRF funds that have fewer expenditure rules. The CTC is authorized to determine when an exchange can be accommodated with no adverse impact on TCRF projects. Caltrans will use these federal funds for projects that would have been qualified for federal funding in any case, eliminating the federal requirements for many local projects and accelerating the spending of transportation funds. This exchange, which is limited to two federal programs—Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality and Regional Surface Transportation—is anticipated to start in 2001.

Transportation Investment Fund—Funds in the TIF provide revenues to the TCRF for projects in the Transportation Congestion Relief Program, help fund local agencies’ backlog of street and road repairs, augment traditional transportation financing available through the State Transportation Improvement Program, and increase resources available for transit programs through the PTA. Statute allocates half of these new PTA revenues for local transit operations grants through the State Transportation Assistance Program; the balance is available for other transit programs described below in the section on the PTA.

TIF revenues vary with the price of gasoline and the volume sold. Because the amount transferred to the TCRF is fixed at $678 million a year, allocations for the other three programs can shift significantly as prices and volumes change. At the time the 2000 transportation plan was enacted, TIF resources available for local street and road repairs, the STIP, and the PTA were estimated at $270 million in 2001-02 and $1.492 billion over the five-year life of the program. However, with the rise in gasoline prices, TIF resources for these three programs are estimated to increase to $427 million in 2001-02 and $2.82 billion over the life of the program. Figure BTH-4 displays these anticipated TIF allocations over the five years.

The Budget also reflects use of new PTA revenues, provided in part by the TIF, for three high priority intercity rail capital projects and a rural transit system grant program. However, the Budget does not include funding for Caltrans directly from the TIF for STIP projects because they will not be programmed until the 2002 STIP. (For 2001-02, the $171 million in TIF expenditures for local street and road repairs is reflected in the Shared Revenues budget.)

State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP)—The STIP identifies projects that will be funded from the State Highway Account and federal transportation funds. The STIP’s estimate of programming capacity also considers funds available from the PTA and TIF.

A new STIP is prepared every two years, identifying projects to be funded over the next four-year period (five years beginning with the 2002 STIP). By statute, each regional transportation-planning agency is allocated a share of the STIP’s programming capacity; in total, regionally programmed projects receive 75 percent of available STIP funds. Caltrans identifies projects of interregional benefit using the remaining 25 percent of the funds. In calculating resources available for projects, the CTC first sets aside funds for highway safety projects and major rehabilitation programmed through the State Highway Operations and Protection Program (SHOPP), as well as funds for Caltrans operations.

In August 2000, the CTC adopted a revised 2000 STIP Fund Estimate using new programming capacity identified mid-cycle that added $1.5 billion to $200 million in previously unprogrammed balances. The new resources are $640 million in increased federal resources, a net increase in State resources of $275 million, $332 million from the newly created TIF, and additional resources from the PTA of $264 million.

Using this updated estimate of programming capacity of $1.7 billion, the CTC adopted the revised 2000 STIP in December 2000, adding $1.3 billion in new construction projects ($871 million for regional projects and $442 million for interregional projects). In addition, local transportation agencies reserved a net of $422 million that will be available for programming through amendments to the 2000 STIP or through the 2002 STIP.

Major 2001-02 expenditures for STIP programming include:

• $213 million increase in federal funds due to the new Revenue Aligned Budget Authority feature of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century that automatically passed on a large increase in federal fuel tax revenues to states.
• $327.6 from the State Highway Account for STIP projects from both the 1998 STIP and the revised 2000 STIP. Because detailed project schedules are not available in all cases, expenditures are based on estimates. About $600 million in reserves may be programmed through additional 2000 STIP amendments in the next several months or may not be programmed until the 2002 STIP. For both these reasons, the May Revision will update capital outlay appropriations and expenditures.

The process of building the 2002 STIP begins in early 2001 with development of the 2002 STIP Fund Estimate and ends with the adoption of the 2002 STIP in April 2002. Because the 2000 transportation legislation modifies future STIPs to five-year plans, the next STIP will program over $2 billion in new resources from the State Highway Account. Over $1.1 billion in TIF resources will also be available for programming. Although the 2002 STIP will be adopted during 2001-02, the Budget does not include any estimated spending because past practice has been to appropriate new STIP funding in the following budget year.

Public Transportation Account—The 2000 transportation legislation increases funding from the TIF to the PTA by approximately $564 million over five years. The legislation also transfers constitutionally unrestricted funds (about $50 million annually) from the State Highway Account to the PTA. These revenues, which include rental income from the lease or rental of property and other receipts, are now available for any mass transit or planning purpose—i.e., not statutorily allocated to any program or purpose.

By statute, one-half of the PTA’s tax revenue goes to the State Transportation Assistance Program or $189 million in 2001-02—an increase of $88 million over the 2000 Budget Act. The balance of the PTA’s revenues is available for transit capital projects programmed through the STIP, the maintenance and operation of the State’s three intercity rail lines, support of the California Transportation Commission, the Bay Area Water Transit Authority, and research projects conducted by the University of California’s Institute for Transportation Studies.

The Budget proposes expenditures of $266 million from the PTA, including the following new activities:

• $9.5 million for intercity rail operations to increase trip frequencies on the San Joaquin and Capitol Corridor Routes as follows: one additional round trip (sixth train) from Bakersfield to Sacramento; two additional round trips (eighth and ninth trains) from Sacramento to Oakland; two additional round trips (fifth and sixth trains) from Oakland to San Jose; and two additional round trips (second and third trains) from Sacramento to Roseville. The base budget for the program before this increase was $63.8 million.
• $800,000 in intercity rail savings (for completion of the heavy overhaul of the intercity rail equipment fleet) that will be redirected to quality control inspections of new rail equipment to be delivered in 2001-02.
• $98 million for three intercity rail track improvement projects:

• $48 million to double and triple track portions of the Pacific Surfliner Route.
• $29.4 million to double track between Oakley and Pittsburg in Contra Costa County on the San Joaquin Route.
• $20.6 million to double track on the Yolo Causeway between Davis and West Sacramento on the Capitol Corridor Route.

These projects will reduce intercity rail running times and increase on-time reliability as well as scheduling flexibility.

• $18 million for the Rural Transit System Program for competitive grants to rural public agencies for capital improvement projects, such as transit facilities and equipment.

Other capital programs—Chapter 327, Statutes of 1997 (SB 60), and Chapter 328, Statutes of 1997 (SB 226), provided $2.6 billion for retrofitting the State’s toll bridges to withstand a major earthquake. The Budget reflects $470.2 million for seismic retrofit expenditures in 2001-02, a growth of $179.6 million between 2000-01 and 2001-02 based on scheduled work on major toll bridge projects. There are seven State-owned toll bridges that are scheduled for retrofit. To date, seismic retrofit work has been completed on the Vincent Thomas and the San Mateo-Hayward Bridges with work underway on the remaining five bridges. The transfer of land from the U.S. Navy to Caltrans for Yerba Buena Island that occurred on October 26, 2000, will now permit work to proceed on the East Span project of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.

Reimbursed work represents local agency projects where Caltrans has agreed to perform the work through a contract and the local agency will pay for that work. The Budget reflects an estimate of $960.4 million for project expenses reimbursed by local governments, an increase of $170 million over 2000-01 and $436.8 million over 1999-00.

Local Assistance Programs

Caltrans provides State and federal transportation funds to local agencies through its local assistance budget. Funds are used primarily for local capital projects off the State highway system, mass transit capital improvement projects, and bridge improvement projects.

The Budget contains $2.3 billion in local assistance funding for transportation in 2001-02: $458.2 million from the State Highway Account (SHA), almost $1.4 billion in federal funds, and $40.7 million from the PTA. This level of funding is an increase of $286 million over 2000-01 estimated expenditures and $1.2 billion over 1999-00 expenditures.

Major changes include:

• $160 million in increased federal funds for local agencies’ share of funding adjustments received under the Revenue Aligned Budget Authority for the Regional Surface Transportation Program and Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality programs.
• $295 million in 2000-01 and $430 million in 2001-02 for TCRF projects managed by local agencies.
• $18 million in 2001-02 from the PTA for the Rural Transit System Program (described above under the PTA).
• A reduction of $156.9 million from the SHA that primarily reflects the timing of STIP projects approved over the past few years.

State Operations Budget

Caltrans’ Mobile Fleet Greening Strategy—Caltrans operates an equipment service center that purchases, maintains, repairs, and replaces approximately 14,000 fleet vehicles such as sedans, trucks, cargo vans, heavy-duty lifters, dozers, and graders. The center has a budget of $151 million for vehicles used by maintenance crews, snow removal units, state highway construction, and other Caltrans programs. The fleet currently uses largely diesel and gasoline fuels.

The Budget includes $20.3 million for Caltrans to retrofit diesel vehicles to use cleaner-burning diesel fuels and increase the number of fleet vehicles that use liquefied petroleum gas (propane). Vehicles will be converted in Caltrans districts that help achieve the air quality goals of the South Coast, Sacramento, Bay Area, and San Joaquin Valley Air Quality Management Districts. Converting a portion of the fleet reduces emissions that degrade California’s air quality and creates mobile emission reduction credits that can be used to implement State policy goals—such as increasing energy supplies and improving transportation systems.

Highway Transportation Operations—To operate the State highway system safely and efficiently, Caltrans uses a variety of traffic management technologies and systems, such as freeway ramp meters, traffic loop detectors, transportation management centers, and high-occupancy vehicle lanes. The traffic operations budget is $145.7 million to maintain and operate this infrastructure. New proposals include:

• $1.8 million for a comprehensive study of highway system management techniques and technology used both in California and other states. The study will allow Caltrans to determine how to improve mobility on the state highway system and relieve traffic congestion, as an alternative or supplemental strategy to building major capital projects.
• $7.6 million to be reimbursed from the Bay Area Toll Authority to complete the Advanced Toll Collection and Accounting System, now being installed on all seven Bay Area toll bridges. This System makes use of transponders mounted on vehicles to automatically debit individual motorists’ accounts.

Protecting the Transportation Investment—As the state highway system ages, maintenance and rehabilitation costs increase. Most highways were built three, four,or five decades ago, while the useful life span is usually only two to three decades before major rehabilitation is required. The Budget includes several proposals to protect California’s transportation investment:

• $1.5 million for equipment to continue the bridge painting program started in 1998-99.
• $570,000 for video technology to inspect culverts, which are the closed conduits that allow water to pass under roadbeds. Caltrans is responsible for over 206,000 culverts, which can erode and collapse roadbeds if not maintained. Caltrans will inspect culverts to identify those with a high risk for failure and develop standards for intermittent culvert inspection and maintenance.
• $4.7 million to offset recent increases in fuel costs.

Historical Properties Maintenance—Half of Caltrans’ rents received from historic properties is deposited in the Historical Properties Maintenance Fund for major property rehabilitation needs. Federal law and State legal mandates require Caltrans to maintain properties within the I-710 extension project in the City of South Pasadena until the project is completed and the properties moved or sold.

The Budget proposes $3.7 million to assist in rehabilitation of 99 of these properties. Funding from the Historical Properties Maintenance Fund will be needed through the completion of scheduled renovation work in 2004-05.

Job Access and Reverse Commute Program and Farmworkers Transportation Services Pilot Project—As part of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21), the federal Job Access and Reverse Commute Program provides competitive grants to local governments and non-profit organizations to develop new or expanded transit services that connect welfare recipients and other low-income persons to jobs.

The Budget includes $4.3 million in 2001-02 and reappropriation of $4 million in 2000-01 funds for Caltrans to implement a Farmworkers Transportation Services Pilot Project and provide administrative and technical assistance to local agencies. The goal is safe transportation services for seasonal and residential farm workers to reduce injuries and fatalities that may occur when they commute to agricultural work sites in Kern, Kings, Tulare, and Fresno counties in the Central Valley.

Caltrans Staffing—The Budget proposes 23,111.2 personnel years in 2001-02 for Caltrans, a net decrease of 46 personnel years over adjusted 2000-01 expenditures. This decrease results primarily from eliminating 234 excess vacancies, most of which were redirected into other critical activities. Caltrans’ capital outlay support staffing will be re-evaluated for the May Revision, when more accurate information is available on workload for the 2000 STIP and the Traffic Congestion Relief Program.

Financial Management Improvement

During 2000-01, Caltrans sought approval for several mid-year budget changes that did not comply with normal budget requirements. In response to concerns about the Department’s financial management practices, Caltrans and the Department of Finance developed a plan to improve departmental budget management. This plan includes a Finance audit of Caltrans’ fiscal internal controls, a review of information technology projects to assess whether administrative requirements have been handled correctly, training for Caltrans staff in managing the process of budget change, and a series of departmental initiatives undertaken by the Director of Caltrans to improve internal and external communication on the status of Caltrans’ budget.

The internal controls audit will be completed in February, with a report available to the Administration and the Legislature. Results from the assessment of information technology projects will also be available at that time. Budget training is ongoing. Other department initiatives include changes in internal budget management practices and improvement in financial tools.

The Department of Housing and Community Development administers housing finance, rehabilitation, and community development programs; oversees the State’s housing planning and code-setting processes; and regulates manufactured housing and mobilehome parks. The Budget proposes $531.3 million and 496.5 personnel years for the Department’s activities.

Housing Incentive Funds—To help address California’s shortage of housing of all types, the Budget includes a $200 million augmentation for incentive grants awarded under the Jobs-Housing Balance Improvement Program to cities and counties that increase their level of housing permits. This proposal augments the existing $100 million in the 2000 Budget Act for a total of $300 million available for incentive grants and makes the following changes:

• Incentive grants will be made available in two funding rounds: an estimated $150 million for the first round in early 2002 based on increases in permit issuance measured during 2001, and another $150 million for the second funding round in early 2003 based on permit issuance measured during 2002. Actual spending levels for each year will depend on Program participation.
• To make the Program more useful to local government, the Administration proposes that all $300 million in incentive grants be discretionary for local use. (The original Program limits the use of incentive grants to community infrastructure purposes that mitigate the impact of new housing.)

Central Valley Infrastructure Grants—The Budget provides $20 million for grants to communities in the Central Valley for infrastructure improvements (e.g., for water, sewer, streets, and telecommunications lines) to facilitate economic development in a region where job creation and industrial development have not kept pace with the state as a whole. The program can leverage other public and private funds for infrastructure development.

Migrant Worker Housing—The Budget includes $7.5 million to continue the multi-year program of reconstructing State-owned housing centers for migrant farm workers. This program to reconstruct 1,162 housing units began in 1994-95 and is expected to be complete in 2004-05. The funds proposed for 2001-02 will rehabilitate 206 housing units in Merced and Yolo counties. The Budget also provides $1.2 million to finish replacing playground equipment in migrant centers to meet new safety regulations.

Predevelopment Loan Program Consolidation and Augmentation—To improve access to pre-construction financing for housing developments, the Budget proposes consolidating the four existing predevelopment loan programs (rural, urban, preservation, and transit-oriented) into a single program. These low-interest, short-term predevelopment loans provide critical early capital to housing developers to secure land or land options and pay for professional services (e.g., engineering, architectural, legal) and other project development costs such as bonding and application fees. The Budget provides $4 million to initially capitalize the consolidated program, a $2.5 million increase over the total base budget of the four existing programs. Also, as prior and current year loans made from the existing programs are repaid, an additional $9 million will revolve into the consolidated program, resulting in a total revolving predevelopment loan program of $13 million in future years.

Other Housing Finance Highlights

Effective January 2002, the federal cap on each state’s authority to issue bonds increases by 50 percent (from $50 per capita to $75 per capita), and the annual state authority to allocate housing tax credits increases by 40 percent from the current $1.25 per capita to $1.75 per capita. The increase in bond authority is expected to result in an additional 7,500 units of affordable rental housing and 4,000 more first-time homeowners in California each year. The increase in tax credits is expected to result in 2,400 more units of affordable rental housing each year.

The Budget proposes a total of $30.5 million and 294.8 personnel years for 2001-02 for the Department of Managed Health Care and the Office of Patient Advocate, established July 1, 2000, by Chapter 525, Statutes of 1999, to regulate health care service plans and address consumer needs.

The Budget includes a $300,000 increase for consultant services to perform financial examinations of full-service health plans more frequently. The goal is to identify financially troubled firms more quickly and take corrective action. This proposal is an interim step to address industry solvency concerns while the new Financial Solvency Standards Board completes its recommendations for changes to financial regulations for the industry.

Because the Department and Office of Patient Advocate are still at the early stages of program development, the Administration may propose additional changes this spring to address longer-term resource needs for new activities such as the annual report card on licensed health plans and consumer assistance activities.

The Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) promotes driver safety by licensing drivers, regulating vehicle sales, issuing identification documents, and collecting vehicle licensing and registration fees. The Budget proposes $680.6 million and 8,830.7 personnel years for support of the DMV in 2001-02.

Driver’s License Fraud—The Budget proposes $13.3 million and 31.3 personnel years to increase efforts to eliminate fraudulent activities such as counterfeiting and identity theft. The Budget funds computer hardware and software to perform facial recognition and thumbprint verification of persons applying for replacement licenses, additional investigative staff, and increased video surveillance equipment.

Vehicle License Fee Rebates—Chapters 106 and 107, Statutes of 2000, require the DMV to rebate a portion of vehicle license fees due in calendar years 2001 and 2002. The Department will calculate the amount of rebate by fee payer and, after the correct payment of license fees is received, report to the State Controller’s Office the rebate amount and name and address for each taxpayer who is owed the rebate. The State Controller’s Office will then issue the rebate checks. In 2001-02, funding is needed to process rebate claims manually that cannot be addressed through the automated system, handle lost checks, and provide ongoing computer system support. The DMV’s administrative costs to provide these rebates are $9.4 million and 69.4 limited-term personnel years in 2000-01 and $5.7 million and 81.9 limited-term personnel years in 2001-02.

Commercial Vehicle Registration Act of 2001—Chapter 861, Statutes of 2000, brings California into compliance with the International Registration Plan and federal laws that require uniform administration of registration and reporting laws for commercial vehicles registered on an apportioned basis. To implement Chapter 861, the DMV will establish a new method of registering commercial vehicles based on the maximum weight allowed for the vehicle, rather than on its unloaded weight. Under the new system, trailers will pay a nominal service fee (instead of weight fees) of no more than $20 for a permanent identification plate and an annual plate renewal fee of $25. The DMV will convert its data to a new automated system that captures gross vehicle weight, changes existing records to the new vehicle weight basis, and tracks new permanent trailer identification plates. The administrative cost to implement Chapter 861 is $3.4 million and 48.2 personnel years in 2000-01, and $4 million and 27.7 personnel years in 2001-02.