2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 56 - Motor Vehicles › Chapter 3 - Motor Vehicle Registration And Licensing › Section 56-3-627. Infrastructure maintenance fee.

(A) In order to account for the necessary road maintenance caused by each item traversing the roads of this State, in addition to the registration fees imposed by this chapter, the owner or lessee of each vehicle or other item that is required to be registered pursuant to this chapter must pay an infrastructure maintenance fee upon first titling or registering the vehicle or other item. Also, the owner or lessee of each trailer or semitrailer must pay the fee upon first titling or registering the trailer or semitrailer. The Department of Motor Vehicles may not issue a title or registration until the infrastructure maintenance fee has been collected. The infrastructure maintenance fee must be credited to the Infrastructure Maintenance Trust Fund.
(B) If upon purchasing or leasing the item from a dealer, the owner or lessee first registers the item in this State, then the fee equals five percent, not to exceed five hundred dollars, of the gross proceeds of sales, or sales price, as those terms are defined in Chapter 36, Title 12. If the dealer holds a South Carolina retail license or offers to license, title, or register the item, then the dealer must collect the fee and remit it to the Department of Motor Vehicles. If the dealer does not license, title, or register the item, the customer must pay the infrastructure maintenance fee to the department when titling or registering the vehicle.
(C)(1) If upon purchasing or leasing the item from a person other than a dealer, the owner or lessee first registers the item in this State, then the fee equals five percent, not to exceed five hundred dollars, of the fair market value of the item. If the lessee purchases the vehicle he originally leased and the registrant of the vehicle remains the same, the person does not owe an additional infrastructure maintenance fee.
(2) Excluded from the fee imposed pursuant to this subsection are:
(a) items transferred:
(i) to members of the immediate family;
(ii) to a legal heir, legatee, or distributee;
(iii) from an individual to a partnership upon formation of a partnership, or from a stockholder to a corporation upon formation of a corporation;
(iv) to a licensed motor vehicle or motorcycle dealer for the purpose of resale;
(v) to a financial institution for the purpose of resale;
(vi) as a result of repossession to any other secured party, for the purpose of resale;
(vii) to an insurer for the purpose of applying for a salvage title;
(b) the fair market value of an item transferred to the seller or secured party in partial payment;
(c) gross proceeds of transfers of items specifically exempted by Section 12-36-2120 from the sales or use tax;
(d) items where a sales or use tax has been paid on the transaction necessitating the transfer.
(3) The Department of Motor Vehicles shall require every applicant for a certificate of title to supply information it considers necessary as to the time of purchase, the purchase price, and other information relative to the determination of fair market value. If the fee is based upon total purchase price as defined in this subsection, the department shall require a submission of a bill of sale and the signature of the owner subject to the perjury statutes of this State.
(4) For purposes of this subsection:
(a) "Fair market value" means the total purchase price less any trade-in, or the valuation shown in a national publication of used values adopted by the department, less any trade-in.
(b) "Immediate family" means spouse, parents, children, sisters, brothers, grandparents, and grandchildren.
(c) "Total purchase price" means the price of an item agreed upon by the buyer and seller with an allowance for a trade-in, if applicable.
(D)(1) If upon purchasing or leasing the item, the owner or lessee first titles or registers the item in another state, and subsequently registers the item in this State, then the fee equals two hundred fifty dollars.
(2) This subsection does not apply if the owner or lessee of the item is serving on active duty in the Armed Forces of the United States. The exclusion allowed by this item also extends to items owned by the spouse or dependent of a person serving on active duty in the Armed Forces of the United States.
(3) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, until after December 31, 2022, the revenue collected pursuant to this subsection must be credited to the Safety Maintenance Account established pursuant to Section 11-11-240. After December 31, 2022, the revenue collected pursuant to this subsection must be credited to the Infrastructure Maintenance Trust Fund.
(E)(1)(a) The Department of Motor Vehicles shall transfer eighty percent of every fee collected on motor vehicles pursuant to subsections (B) and (C), but not to exceed two hundred forty dollars, to the Department of Transportation to be allocated to the state-funded resurfacing program. The Department of Transportation shall develop and implement a needs-based methodology to distribute revenue within the state-funded resurfacing program, which shall include consideration of pavement condition on a county-by-county basis, to ensure that each county in the State is guaranteed funding for resurfacing.
(b) The Department of Motor Vehicles shall transfer twenty percent of every fee collected on motor vehicles pursuant to subsections (B) and (C), but not to exceed sixty dollars, to the South Carolina Education Improvement Act of 1984 Fund.
(2) The Department of Transportation shall reduce the allocation to the state-funded resurfacing program required in item (1) in proportion to the amounts transferred to the South Carolina Transportation Infrastructure Bank pursuant to subsection (F) and in proportion to the amounts required by the Department of Transportation to fund repairs, maintenance, and improvements to the existing transportation system.
(F)(1) The Department of Transportation shall identify bridge and road projects to be financed utilizing nontax revenue transferred to the bank by the Department of Transportation in an amount equal to the financing requirements related to projects selected pursuant to this section, provided that:
(a) Fifty million dollars in revenue utilized by the bank shall be used to finance bridge replacement, rehabilitation projects, and expansion and improvements on existing roads in the State Highway System.
(b) Funds in excess of fifty million dollars utilized by the bank shall be used to finance expansion and improvements to existing mainline interstates.
(2) Funds transferred to the bank pursuant to this section may not be used to finance projects approved by the bank before July 1, 2013. The bank shall submit all projects proposed to be financed pursuant to subsection (B) to the Joint Bond Review Committee as provided in Section 11-43-180, before approving a project for financing.
(3) Following consideration by the Joint Bond Review Committee, the bank shall approve the projects to be financed. Upon approval, the bank shall provide the Department of Transportation with written notice that identifies each project selected, the amount of nontax revenue that must be transferred to the bank for financing each project, a schedule for the transfers, and any other information necessary to carrying out the financing of each project.
(4) Upon receipt of the notice provided in item (3), the Department of Transportation shall transfer nontax revenue to the bank in the amounts and upon the schedule provided in the notice. The department shall take any other action identified in the notice that is necessary for financing each project.
(5) Projects financed utilizing funds transferred pursuant to this subsection shall not require a local match.
(G) The Secretary of Transportation shall apply funds supplanted by the operation of this section to prioritized bridge and resurfacing needs.
(H) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, any transaction exempt pursuant to Section 12-36-2120(25), is also exempt from the infrastructure maintenance fee.
HISTORY: 2017 Act No. 40 (H.3516), Section 5.A, eff July 1, 2017; 2021 Act No. 70 (H.3505), Section 1, eff May 17, 2021.
Effect of Amendment
2021 Act No. 70, Section 1, in (A), in the first and second sentences, inserted "or lessee" following "the owner" and "titling or" following "upon first", and in the third sentence, inserted "title or" following "issue a"; in (B), in the first sentence, inserted "or lessee" following "the owner", in the second sentence, substituted ", title, or register" for "and register", and added the third sentence; in (C), in (1), inserted "or lessee" following "the owner", and added the second sentence, in (2)(a), added (vii); and in (D), in (1), substituted "or lessee first titles or registers" for "first registers", and in (2), in the first sentence, inserted "or lessee" following "the owner", and made nonsubstantive changes.