Time to get rid of California’s ‘ticket tax,’ a state surcharge on traffic fines

How does a $35 ticket for rolling through a stop sign end up costing more than $300?

The actual penalty for most of California’s traffic violations is not out of line with the nature of the offenses — $35 for rolling a stop sign, for instance, or $100 for throwing a cigarette butt out the window. The problem is that every traffic fine — no matter how trivial or profound the offense — comes with nearly 20 additional fees and charges. Combined, those fees drive the total cost of even a minor traffic offense beyond what many people can pay.

Every ticket — from failure to notify the DMV that you moved within 10 days ($25) to obscuring your license plate ($250) to zipping past a bicyclist without slowing down ($220) — is multiplied many times over by these fees. For instance, if you are ticketed for parking in a bus-loading zone your fine will be $250, but your total bill will be at least $1,100.

Not counting late fees that most California counties can add, there are 18 fees the state adds to every traffic ticket. Each supports a program or fund that is often worthy, but usually unrelated to the violation.

No one should roll through a stop sign, but if someone does, why should the scofflaw help fund programs through the Department of Education? Many schools discarded driver-education courses long, long ago.

Tickets are a gold mine for the state. A sampling of add-ons for that $35 ticket:

• Office of Emergency Services: $40 (that’s right, more than the actual ticket).
• Traumatic Brain Injury fund: 92 cents.
• Emergency Medical Services Fund: $8.
• Court Operations Assessment: $40 (flat fee for every ticket written).
• State Courthouse Construction Penalty: $8.

Perhaps the most odious charge is the least justified — a 20% surcharge that goes directly into the state’s general fund, a giant pot of money holding $144 billion. It is, essentially, a ticket tax.

California instituted most of these fees — including the 20% surcharge — in 2002, when the dotcom bust pushed our state budget into the red. That surcharge was supposed to sunset in 2007, but it didn’t. After the Great Recession set in, the Legislature extended it, well, forever.

With a current budget surplus of $20 billion, how can California continue to justify its traffic-fine surcharge? A state that can set aside $21 billion for a rainy-day fund doesn’t need the miniscule amount added through this surcharge.

Our legislation, AB 1980, would permanently strike that unnecessary and unjustifiable 20% ticket tax. The same bill last year received no opposition, passed out of committee with bipartisan votes, and enjoyed support from both law enforcement and civil justice organizations alike. Unfortunately, the Assembly Appropriations Committee killed the bill last year, deciding that the cost to the state (a mere 0.03% of California’s revenue stream) was not worthy of the financial relief available to everyday Californians.

We have traffic laws for a reason. Rolling a stop sign or paying attention to a cellphone in traffic is dangerous. Violators should pay an appropriate penalty commensurate with the danger they pose or harm they have caused. But, California should not drive people out of their cars simply because they cannot afford to pay assorted surcharges and fees tacked onto every single traffic ticket.

In a state where millions are pushed toward poverty by costs of housing, healthcare and the nation’s highest gas taxes, adding hundreds of dollars in fees to the backs of working-class Californians is simply unfair.

There is a better, fairer way to deal with minor traffic tickets, which doesn’t involve putting people in the fast lane toward poverty. Getting rid of that 20% ticket tax is a first step in the right direction.

This story was originally published February 7, 2020 at 5:00 AM.