2023 Colorado Revised Statutes › Title 43 - TRANSPORTATION (§§ 43-1-101 — 43-10-119) › FINANCING (§§ 43-4-101 — 43-4-1507) › Article 4 - FINANCING (§§ 43-4-101 — 43-4-1507) › Part 8 - FUNDING ADVANCEMENT FOR SURFACE TRANSPORTATION AND ECONOMIC RECOVERY (§§ 43-4-801 — 43-4-814) › Section 43-4-804 - Highway safety projects - surcharges and fees - crediting of money to highway users tax fund - definition

(1)
The following surcharges, fees, and fines shall be collected and credited to the highway users tax fund created in section
43-4-201 (1)(a)
and allocated to the state highway fund, counties, and municipalities as specified in section
43-4-205
(6.3):
(a)
(I)
A road safety surcharge, which, except as otherwise provided in subsections (1)(a)(III) and (1)(a)(VI) of this section, is imposed for any registration period that commences on or after July 1, 2009, upon the registration of any vehicle for which a registration fee must be paid pursuant to part 3 of article
3
of title
42
and is also imposed upon any item of special mobile machinery that is covered by a registration exempt certificate issued by the department of revenue in accordance with section
42-3-107 (16)(g)
. Except as otherwise provided in subsections (1)(a)(IV), (1)(a)(V), and (1)(a)(VIII) of this section, the amount of the surcharge is:
(A)
Sixteen dollars for a motorcycle, as defined in section
42-1-102 (55)
; a trailer coach, as defined in section
42-1-102
(106) ; an autocycle, as defined in section
42-1-102
(7.5); or any vehicle that weighs two thousand pounds or less;
(B)
Twenty-three dollars for any vehicle that weighs more than two thousand pounds but not more than five thousand pounds;
(C)
Twenty-eight dollars for any vehicle that weighs more than five thousand pounds but not more than ten thousand pounds;
(D)
Thirty-seven dollars for any vehicle that is a passenger bus or that weighs more than ten thousand pounds but not more than sixteen thousand pounds; and
(E)
Thirty-nine dollars for any vehicle that weighs more than sixteen thousand pounds.
(II)
The road safety surcharge shall be imposed when a vehicle is registered as required by article
3
of title
42
or, for an item of special mobile machinery that is covered by a registration exempt certificate issued by the department of revenue in accordance with section
42-3-107 (16)(g)
, at the time set forth in section
42-3-107 (16)(g)(III)
. Each authorized agent shall remit to the department of revenue no less frequently than once a month, but otherwise at the time and in the manner required by the executive director of the department of revenue, all road safety surcharges collected by the authorized agent. The executive director of the department of revenue shall forward all road safety surcharges remitted by authorized agents plus any road safety surcharges collected directly by the department of revenue to the state treasurer, who shall credit the surcharges to the highway users tax fund.
(III)
The road safety surcharge shall not be imposed on any rental vehicle on which a daily vehicle rental fee is imposed pursuant to paragraph (b) of this subsection (1).
(IV)
The amount of the road safety surcharge imposed on any vehicle that is an item of Class A personal property, as defined in section
42-3-106 (2)(a)
, C.R.S., shall be the product of the amount of the surcharge imposed based on the weight of the vehicle pursuant to subparagraph (I) of this paragraph (a) and the percentage of the item's total apportioned registration apportioned to Colorado.
(V)
The amount of the road safety surcharge imposed pursuant to this paragraph (a) shall be one-half of the amount specified in subparagraph (I) of this paragraph (a) for any vehicle that is a truck or truck tractor that is owned by a farmer or rancher and is used commercially only:
(A)
To transport to market or place of storage raw agricultural products actually produced or livestock actually raised by the farmer or rancher in farming or ranching operations; or
(B)
To transport commodities or livestock purchased by the farmer or rancher for personal use in the farmer's or rancher's farming or ranching operations.
(VI)
The road safety surcharge shall not be imposed on any vehicle for which the department of revenue has issued a horseless carriage special license plate pursuant to section
42-12-301
, C.R.S.
(VII)
Each vehicle registration fee invoice shall list the road safety surcharge separately from all other vehicle registration fees or surcharges imposed.
(VIII)
For any registration period that begins on or after January 1, 2022, but before January 1, 2024, the amount of each road safety surcharge imposed pursuant to subsection (1)(a)(I) of this section is reduced by eleven dollars and ten cents.
(b)
(I)
(A)
Except as otherwise provided in subsections (1)(b)(III) and (1)(b)(IV) of this section, a daily vehicle rental fee is imposed on all short-term vehicle rentals at the rate of two dollars per day; except that a subsequent renewal of a short-term vehicle rental is exempt from the fee to the extent that the renewal extends the total rental period beyond thirty days. The rental invoice shall list the daily vehicle rental fee separately as a Colorado road safety program fee. On and after July 1, 2022, a car sharing program, as defined in section
6-1-1202 (4)
, shall collect the daily vehicle rental fee for any short-term vehicle rental of twenty-four hours or longer that is enabled by the car sharing program.
(B)
As used in this subsection (1)(b), "short-term vehicle rental" means the rental of any motor vehicle, as defined in section
42-1-102 (58)
, with a gross vehicle weight rating of twenty-six thousand pounds or less that is rented within Colorado for a period of not more than thirty days.
(II)
A person who collects the daily vehicle rental fee imposed by subsection (1)(b)(I) of this section and who pays specific ownership tax on the vehicles rented in the manner specified in either section
42-3-107 (11) or (12)
, or both, shall, no later than the twentieth day of each month, submit to the department of revenue a report, using forms furnished by the department of revenue, of daily vehicle rental fees collected for the preceding month and shall include with the report the remittance of all such fees. A person who collects the daily vehicle rental fee imposed by subsection (1)(b)(I) of this section but does not pay specific ownership tax on the vehicles in the manner specified in either section
42-3-107 (11) or (12)
, or both, shall submit the report and the remittance of fees collected in the same manner or in such other manner as the executive director of the department of revenue may prescribe by rules promulgated in accordance with article
4
of title
24
. The executive director of the department of revenue shall forward all daily vehicle rental fees collected, together with all congestion impact fees imposed by the transportation enterprise pursuant to section 43-4-806 (7.6) collected, to the state treasurer and shall identify the amounts of each fee being forwarded. The state treasurer shall credit the daily vehicle rental fees imposed pursuant to subsection (1)(b)(I)(A) of this section to the highway users tax fund and shall credit the congestion impact fees imposed by the transportation enterprise pursuant to section 43-4-806 (7.6) to the transportation special fund as required by section 43-4-806 (7.6)(b).
(III)
Because vehicle sharing is an alternative to personal vehicle ownership that reduces the number of vehicle miles traveled on the highways of the state by encouraging the use of transit and reducing the number of trips made in privately owned vehicles and thereby benefits the state by reducing traffic congestion, greenhouse gas emissions, and the amount of wear and tear on the highways, the daily vehicle rental fee imposed pursuant to this paragraph (b) shall not be imposed on any vehicle rented pursuant to a vehicle sharing arrangement if:
(A)
Under the terms of the arrangement, an organization provides passenger vehicles for the use of members of the organization who have paid a membership fee to the organization and charges an additional fee for each use of a passenger vehicle;
(B)
A member of the organization is not required to enter into a separate written agreement with the organization each time the member reserves and uses a passenger vehicle;
(C)
The average paid usage period for all passenger vehicles provided by the organization during the prior calendar year was six hours or less;
(D)
At least three-quarters of all passenger vehicle rentals made by the organization during the prior calendar year in each municipality or county in which the organization does business were made to members of the organization who maintain a residence within the city or county;
(E)
Fuel and full insurance coverage are included in the member usage rates; and
(F)
Passenger vehicles provided by the organization are stationed in self-serve locations throughout the county or municipality in which the organization does business.
(IV)
(A)
For short-term vehicle rentals beginning during state fiscal year 2022-23 and for short-term vehicle rental periods beginning during any subsequent state fiscal year, the department of revenue shall annually adjust the amount of the daily vehicle rental fee for inflation. The department of revenue shall calculate the inflation adjusted amount of the short-term vehicle rental fee for each state fiscal year and shall publish the amount no later than the May 1 of the calendar year in which the state fiscal year begins.
(B)
As used in this subsection (1)(b)(IV), "inflation" means the average annual percentage change in the United States department of labor, bureau of labor statistics, consumer price index for Denver-Aurora-Lakewood for all items and all urban consumers, or its applicable predecessor or successor index, for the five years ending on the last December 31 before a state fiscal year for which an inflation adjustment to the short-term vehicle rental fee is to be made begins.
(c)
(I)
A supplemental oversize and overweight vehicle surcharge in an amount equal to the amount of the fee charged pursuant to section
42-4-510 (11)(a)
, C.R.S., by the department or the Colorado state patrol for the issuance of the single trip permit; except that the surcharge shall not be imposed on a vehicle if the single trip permit fee was imposed pursuant to section
42-4-510 (11)(a)(VI)(B)
, C.R.S.
(II)
The agency issuing an oversize or overweight vehicle single trip permit shall collect the supplemental oversize and overweight vehicle surcharge at the same time as it collects the single trip permit fee. The agency shall forward all supplemental oversize and overweight vehicle surcharges to the department, and the executive director of the department shall forward the supplemental surcharges to the state treasurer, who shall credit the surcharges to the highway users tax fund.
(d)
(I)
A supplemental unregistered vehicle fine imposed in addition to the fine imposed pursuant to section
42-6-139 (3)
, C.R.S., upon conviction of a misdemeanor for knowingly failing to register a vehicle within ninety days of becoming a resident of this state as required by section
42-3-103 (4)(a)
, C.R.S.
(II)
The supplemental unregistered vehicle fine shall be collected at the same time as the fine imposed pursuant to section
42-6-139 (3)
, C.R.S. The amount of the supplemental unregistered vehicle fine shall be twenty-five dollars for each month or portion of a month that the vehicle remained unregistered following the ninety-day period during which initial registration was required; except that the amount of the supplemental unregistered vehicle fine shall not exceed one hundred dollars. All supplemental unregistered vehicle fines shall be forwarded to the state treasurer, who shall credit the fines to the highway users tax fund.
(e)
Late registration fees required to be credited to the highway users tax fund pursuant to section
42-3-112 (2)
, C.R.S.
Amended by 2024 Ch. 186,§ 12, eff. 5/16/2024.
Amended by 2022 Ch. 475, §16, eff. 1/1/2023.
Amended by 2022 Ch. 361, §30, eff. 1/1/2023.
Amended by 2022 Ch. 159, §5, eff. 5/16/2022.
Amended by 2021 Ch. 478, §5, eff. 7/1/2022.
Amended by 2021 Ch. 250, §47, eff. 6/17/2021.
Amended by 2020 Ch. 70, §18, eff. 9/14/2020.
Amended by 2014 Ch. 88, §1, eff. 7/1/2014.
L. 2009: Entire part R&RE, (SB 09 -108), ch. 16, p. 16, §1, effective March 2. L. 2011: (1)(a)(VI) amended, (SB 11 -031), ch. 249, p. 249, § 20, effective August 10. L. 2012: (1)(c)(I) amended, (HB 12-1019), ch. 474, p. 474, § 26, effective July 1. L. 2014: (1)(b)(I) amended, (SB 14 -055), ch. 334, p. 334, §1, effective July 1. L. 2020: IP(1)(a)(I) and (1)(a)(I)(A) amended, (SB 20 -136), ch. 286, p. 286, §18, effective September 14. L. 2021: IP(1)(a)(I) and (1)(b)(I) amended and (1)(a)(VIII) and (1)(b)(IV) added, (SB 21-260), ch. 1440, p. 1440, § 47, effective June 17; IP(1)(a)(I) and (1)(a)(II) amended, (SB 21-257), ch. 3420, p. 3420, § 5, effective 7/1/2022.
(1) Provisions of the former § 43-4-804 were relocated to §§
43-4-805
and
43-4-806
in 2009.
(2) Amendments to subsection IP(1)(a)(I) by SB 21-260 and SB 21-257 were harmonized.
2022 Ch. 475, was passed without a safety clause. See Colo. Const. art. V, § 1(3).
2022 Ch. 361, was passed without a safety clause. See Colo. Const. art. V, § 1(3).
For the legislative declaration in SB 20-136, see section 1 of chapter 70, Session Laws of Colorado 2020. For the legislative declaration in SB 21-260, see section 1 of chapter 250, Session Laws of Colorado 2021.