(a) The annual fees for the licensing of the operation of vehicles shall be as follows for each vehicle registered: (1) For each passenger motor vehicle not operated as a common or contract carrier for hire ............................................$ 20.00 (2) For each motorcycle ......................................20.00 (3)(A) For each private commercial motor vehicle in accordance with the owner declared gross vehicle weight rating, as follows: (i) Less than 18,001 lbs. ................................25.00 (ii) 18,001 to 26,000 lbs. ...............................38.00 (iii) 26,001 to 30,000 lbs. ..............................45.00 (iv) 30,001 to 36,000 lbs. ...............................70.00 (v) 36,001 to 44,000 lbs. ...............................115.00 (vi) 44,001 to 54,999 lbs. ..............................190.00 (vii) 55,000 to 63,280 lbs. .............................300.00 (viii) 63,281 lbs. to maximum permitted .................400.00 (B) Subparagraph (A) of this paragraph notwithstanding: (i) A straight truck which is not a truck-tractor shall not be classified higher than $75.00; (ii) A straight truck hauling fertilizer or agricultural products shall not be classified higher than $31.00; and (iii) A truck-tractor hauling fertilizer, milk, or crops as defined in paragraph (7.1) of Code Section 1-3-3 shall not be classified higher than $220.00; (4) For each farm truck ......................................20.00 (5) Except as otherwise specifically provided in this Code section, for each private trailer ...............................................20.00 (6)(A) For each farm trailer including, but not limited to, horse and cattle trailers, the maximum fee shall be $12.00. (B) There shall be no fee for trailers: (i) Used exclusively to haul agricultural products from one place on the farm to another or from one farm or field to another; (ii) With no springs which are being employed in hauling unprocessed farm products to their market destination; and (iii) With no springs which are pulled from a tongue and used primarily to transport fertilizer to the farm; (7) For house trailers, auto trailers, and boat trailers, whether pulled by a private automobile or a private truck, and not used as or in connection with a motor vehicle, truck, or tractor used as a common or contract carrier for hire ..............................................12.00 (8) For trailers used as or in connection with a motor vehicle, truck, or tractor used as a common or contract carrier for hire ........12.00 (9) For each motor bus or van-type vehicle used as a common or contract carrier for hire in public transportation transporting passengers, the following: (A) Weighing 10,000 pounds or less, $1.90 per 100 pounds factory weight or fractional part of 100 pounds factory weight; (B) Weighing more than 10,000 pounds and not over 15,000 pounds factory weight, $2.75 for each 100 pounds or fractional part of 100 pounds factory weight; (C) Weighing more than 15,000 pounds and not more than 20,000 pounds factory weight, $3.45 for each 100 pounds or fractional part of 100 pounds factory weight; and (D) Weighing more than 20,000 pounds factory weight, $3.75 for each 100 pounds or fractional part of 100 pounds factory weight. No motor bus license fee shall exceed $875.00; (10)(A) For each commercial motor vehicle operated as a common or contract carrier for hire in accordance with owner declared gross vehicle weight rating, as follows: (i) Less than 18,001 lbs. ................................25.00 (ii) 18,001 to 26,000 lbs. ...............................38.00 (iii) 26,001 to 30,000 lbs. ..............................85.00 (iv) 30,001 to 36,000 lbs. ..............................130.00 (v) 36,001 to 44,000 lbs. ...............................215.00 (vi) 44,001 to 54,999 lbs. ..............................365.00 (vii) 55,000 to 63,280 lbs. .............................575.00 (viii) 63,281 lbs. to maximum permitted .................725.00 (B) Subparagraph (A) of this paragraph notwithstanding, a straight truck which is not a truck-tractor shall not be classified higher than $150.00; (11) For each commercial motor vehicle leased to a common or contract carrier without regard to the duration of the lease and in accordance with the gross vehicle weight rating, the same license fees as required under paragraph (10) of this subsection; (12) For each motor driven hearse or ambulance ...............20.00 (13) For each school bus operated exclusively in the transportation of pupils and teachers to and from schools or school activities or in the transportation of the owner and the members of his immediate family, the sum of $20.00. A bus owned by a church or owned in common with other churches and used and operated exclusively for the church in transporting members and patrons to and from church or church activities, when no part of the proceeds of the operation of the bus inures to the benefit of any private person, shall be licensed for the sum of $20.00 in the same manner as school buses when the bus complies with the laws applicable to school buses; (14) For each motor vehicle owned by the state or by a political subdivision or municipality of the state and used exclusively for governmental functions ..................................................1.00 (15) For each motor vehicle used by carriers and operated under special franchise granted by the United States Department of Defense over a route of not more than 20 miles in length which is solely between a point in this state and a point within a United States military reservation in this state ..................................................................20.00 (16) Heavy earth-moving machinery, fertilizer application equipment, and crop protection chemical application equipment, not including trucks, which are used primarily off the highway shall not be required to be licensed under this article; (17)(A) Trucks transporting logs, pulpwood, or other forest products shall be licensed in accordance with the following annual fees: (i) Straight trucks and truck-tractors pulling a single pole trailer hauling logs from the woods to the sawmill .....................38.00 (ii) Other truck-tractors ...............................220.00 (B) Skidders, tractors, and loaders used only in the woods shall not be required to be licensed. Trucks and truck-tractors specified in subparagraph (A) of this paragraph shall be licensed in accordance with this paragraph even though the trucks or truck-tractors are also used to transport skidders, tractors, loaders, and other logging equipment. Trucks and truck-tractors specified in subparagraph (A) of this paragraph shall not be required to pay additional fees or obtain additional license plates in order to transport logging equipment owned by the owner of the trucks or truck-tractors; (18) For each agricultural field use vehicle .................31.00 (19)(A) (i) Upon registration of an alternative fueled vehicle not operated for commercial purposes ......................................200.00 (ii) Upon registration of an alternative fueled vehicle operated for commercial purposes ......................................300.00
(i) As used in this paragraph, the term "alternative fueled vehicle" shall have the same meaning as in division (l)(7)(B)(ii) of Code Section 40-2-86.1; provided, however, that the fees in this paragraph shall not be assessed on vehicles which operate primarily on compressed natural gas, liquefied natural gas, or liquefied petroleum gas.
The fees in this paragraph shall be in addition to any other fee imposed on the vehicle by this Code section.
The fees in this paragraph shall be automatically adjusted on an annual basis by multiplying the percentage of increase or decrease in fuel efficiency from the previous year as measured by using the average of combined miles per gallon published in the United States Department of Energy Fuel Economy Guide against the current fee, and the resulting increase or decrease shall be added or subtracted from the fee. This preliminary fee adjustment shall then be multiplied by the increase or decrease in the Consumer Price Index percentage for the applicable year, and the result will be added or subtracted from the preliminary fee to produce the fee for the year. The first adjustment shall be calculated and implemented on July 1, 2016. The Consumer Price Index shall no longer be used after July 1, 2018.
In lieu of the annual fee provided in paragraphs (6), (7) or (8) of subsection (a) of this Code section, the optional one-time fee for a permanent registration and license plate for:
The fee for a new passenger car for which the purchaser has paid state and local title ad valorem taxes and that is being registered as provided in subsection (d) of Code Section 40-2-20 shall be $40.00 for the two-year registration period.
(Ga. L. 1937-38, Ex. Sess., p. 259, § 4; Ga. L. 1946, p. 77, § 1; Ga. L. 1953, Nov.-Dec. Sess., p. 371, § 1; Ga. L. 1955, p. 303, § 1; Ga. L. 1955, Ex. Sess., p. 38, § 1; Ga. L. 1957, p. 376, § 2; Ga. L. 1960, p. 777, § 2; Ga. L. 1960, p. 998, § 2; Ga. L. 1962, p. 450, § 1; Ga. L. 1964, p. 80, §§ 1, 2; Ga. L. 1966, p. 132, §§ 1, 2; Ga. L. 1966, p. 252, §§ 2, 3; Ga. L. 1974, p. 451, §§ 2-4; Ga. L. 1976, p. 694, § 1; Code 1933, § 91A-5302, enacted by Ga. L. 1978, p. 309, § 2; Ga. L. 1978, p. 2210, § 1; Ga. L. 1979, p. 5, § 106; Ga. L. 1979, p. 1038, §§ 1-3; Code 1981, §48-10-2; Ga. L. 1982, p. 3, § 48; Ga. L. 1983, p. 3, § 37; Ga. L. 1984, p. 22, § 48; Ga. L. 1984, p. 896, § 1; Ga. L. 1985, p. 1, §§ 1, 2; Ga. L. 1987, p. 348, § 1; Ga. L. 1990, p. 1883, § 5; Ga. L. 1991, p. 434, § 1; Ga. L. 1992, p. 6, § 48; Ga. L. 1992, p. 779, § 27; Ga. L. 1994, p. 1373, § 2; Ga. L. 1995, p. 10, § 48; Ga. L. 1995, p. 742, § 3; Ga. L. 1998, p. 1580, §§ 4, 5; Code 1981, §40-2-151, as redesignated by Ga. L. 2002, p. 1074, §§ 1, 4; Ga. L. 2004, p. 1063, § 1; Ga. L. 2007, p. 652, § 7/HB 518; Ga. L. 2008, p. 324, § 40/SB 455; Ga. L. 2008, p. 835, § 4/SB 437; Ga. L. 2009, p. 449, § 3/SB 128; Ga. L. 2015, p. 236, § 3-2/HB 170; Ga. L. 2015, p. 836, § 2/HB 147.)
Code Commission notes.- Pursuant to Code Section 28-9-5, in 1991, "motor-driven" was changed to "motor driven" in paragraph (12) (now paragraph (a)(12)).
Pursuant to Code Section 28-9-5, in 2007, "subsection" was substituted for "Code section" at the end of paragraph (a)(11).
The amendment of this Code section by Ga. L. 2008, p. 324, § 40(1)/SB 455, irreconcilably conflicted with and was treated as superseded by Ga. L. 2008, p. 835, § 4/SB 437. See County of Butts v. Strahan, 151 Ga. 417 (1921).
Editor's notes.- Ga. L. 1994, p. 1373, § 3, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that the Act shall apply to registration and licensing of trailers on and after January 1, 1995.
Ga. L. 2002, p. 1074, § 8, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: "This Act shall not abate any prosecution, punishment, penalty, administrative proceedings or remedies, or civil action related to any violation of law committed prior to the effective date of this Act." This act became effective July 1, 2002.
Ga. L. 2009, p. 449, § 4/SB 128, not codified by the General Assembly, provides, in part, that the amendment to this Code section shall apply to registration and licensing of trailers on and after January 1, 2010.
Ga. L. 2015, p. 236, § 8-1/HB 170, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that: "This Act shall be known and may be cited as the 'Transportation Funding Act of 2015."'
Ga. L. 2015, p. 236, § 8-2/HB 170, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that: "It is the intention of the General Assembly, subject to appropriations and other constitutional obligations of this state, that year to year revenue increases be prioritized to fund education, transportation, and health care in this state."
Ga. L. 2015, p. 236, § 9-1(b)/HB 170, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that: "Tax, penalty, and interest liabilities and refund eligibility for prior taxable years shall not be affected by the passage of this Act and shall continue to be governed by the provisions of Title 48 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated as it existed immediately prior to the effective date of this Act." This Act became effective July 1, 2015.
Law reviews.- For article on the 2015 amendment of this Code section, see 32 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 261 (2015).