The Connecticut General Assembly

OFFICE OF LEGISLATIVE RESEARCH

November 5, 1996 96-R-1309

TO:

FROM: James J. Fazzalaro, Principal Analyst

You asked if Connecticut law provides for a full or partial refund of a driver's license or motor vehicle registration fee if a person voluntarily surrenders his license or registration because of a health problem or the death of a spouse. You also asked if Rhode Island, Massachusetts, or New York provide license or registration fee refunds.

SUMMARY

Connecticut law does not provide for refunds of drivers' license fees. Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and New York do not allow them either. Connecticut law requires one year of the two-year registration fee for a passenger motor vehicle to be refunded if the registration is canceled and the certificate and plates are returned with more than one year remaining. Rhode Island has a similar one year refund requirement in its registration law. New York refunds the second year of a two-year passenger vehicle registration fee if the plates are returned before the second year of the registration period begins. New York also has an administrative policy of providing a credit for the unexpired portion of the first year which may be used against the fee for a subsequent passenger registration made by the same person during the period the canceled registration would have been valid. New York law also provides for a complete refund of an unused registration provided the motor vehicle commissioner is satisfied it was never used and the plates are turned in within two months of being originally issued.

CONNECTICUT LAW

Connecticut law does not provide for refunds of fees for drivers' licenses, but it does require the motor vehicles commissioner to refund half of the registration fee for a passenger motor vehicle if the registration is canceled and the registration certificate and plates are returned with at least one year remaining of the two-year registration (CGS § 14-49(a) as amended by PA 95-260). Similar refunds were previously authorized by law for vehicles with passenger or combined passenger and commercial (“combination”) registrations but in 1992, the refunds were eliminated as part of an act aimed at increasing motor vehicle related revenues (PA 92-177). Passenger registration refunds were reinstituted in 1995, but combination registration refunds were not.

If a person surrenders his driver's license at any point in the license period, the law does not entitle him to a refund. But if he surrenders a passenger vehicle registration in his name with a year or more remaining in the registration period, the law requires half of the registration fee to be refunded. This would not be required if the vehicle owner was age 65 or older and had chosen to renew the registration for one year instead of two, an option provided by law only for this age group. Since any such registration, if canceled, could not have the requisite one year remaining in the registration period, the refund provision could not apply.

There are two other registration fee refund laws that do not seem to relate directly to your question, but are briefly explained here for completeness. One law allows the motor vehicle commissioner to the state comptroller for a refund of the registration fee for any noncommercial vehicle on behalf of a person who is inducted into the armed forces during the registration period. The refund must be calculated on a prorated quarterly basis and cannot exceed 75% of the original fee (CGS § 14-23). Under another law, the commissioner may make application for a refund on behalf of the owner of a vehicle with a commercial registration if it becomes unfit for use prior to expiration of the registration and the owner surrenders the registration certificate and plates and provides a sworn statement attesting to the vehicle's unfitness. The refunded amount is based on the number of months remaining in the registration period (CGS § 14-31).

OTHER STATES

Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and New York do not provide refunds of drivers' license fees. Massachusetts does not provide registration refunds, but is also in the process of changing its motor vehicle registration system to lifetime registrations, which may make the issue of registration refunds moot. Under its current system, passenger registrations are issued for two years for a $30 fee. Under the new lifetime registration system, the same $30 fee will be charged but the registration will have no expiration. If something happens that affects the registration's status, such as a suspension for a traffic offense, the registrant will have to pay a restoration fee.

Rhode Island law provides for registration refunds for voluntary cancellations, but only in full year segments. In practice, the law applies primarily to passenger registrations which are issued for two year periods. Most other registrations, including combination passenger and commercial vehicles, are issued for only one year.

New York law provides for a refund of one year of the two-year passenger vehicle registration fee, less $1, if the registrant surrenders the license plates before the second year begins. Also, if someone registers a vehicle but afterward decides not to use the registration, New York law provides for a complete refund of the fee for the unused registration. To get the full refund, the motor vehicle commissioner and state comptroller must be satisfied that the registration has not been used and the plates and registration sticker must be surrendered to the commissioner within the two months following payment of the registration fee or the beginning of the registration period, whichever is later. Application for the refund must be made within the registration's period of validity (Vehicle and Traffic Law, § 428).

The New York Department of Motor Vehicles also has an administrative practice of providing someone who cancels a registration and receives the one-year refund with a credit slip for the unused portion of the first year of the registration. The credit may be used should the person subsequently register another vehicle during the first vehicle's original registration period.

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