A. The department and its agents shall collect an administrative fee to defray the department's costs of operation and of rendering service to the public. The fee shall be two dollars ($2.00) for each transaction performed by an agent or the department and shall be collected in addition to all other fees and taxes imposed.

B. All sums collected by an agent or the department as administrative fees shall be remitted as provided in Section 66-2-15 NMSA 1978.

C. Administrative fees remitted by department employees shall be deposited by the state treasurer into the motor vehicle suspense fund and distributed in accordance with Section 66-6-23 NMSA 1978.

D. Notwithstanding the provisions of Subsections A through C of this section, a class A county with a population exceeding three hundred thousand or municipality with a population exceeding three hundred thousand within a class A county designated as an agent pursuant to Section 66-2-14.1 NMSA 1978 shall not be paid the fee provided in Subparagraph (b) of Paragraph (1) of Subsection A of Section 66-6-23 NMSA 1978.

E. The secretary is authorized to establish by rule fees to cover the expense of providing additional services for the convenience of the motoring public. Any service established for which a fee is adopted pursuant to this subsection shall be optional, with the fee not being charged to any person not taking advantage of the service. Amounts collected pursuant to this subsection are appropriated to the department for the purpose of defraying the expense of providing the service and for the purposes set forth in Subsection F of Section 66-6-13 NMSA 1978. At the end of a fiscal year the unexpended and unencumbered balances of the fees collected pursuant to this subsection shall not revert to the general fund but shall be expended by the department in fiscal year 2010 and subsequent fiscal years.

F. The secretary shall review, at the end of each fiscal year, the aggregate total of motor vehicle transactions performed by each municipality, county or fee agent operating a motor vehicle field office, and identify each office exceeding ten thousand aggregate transactions per year.

History: 1953 Comp., § 64-2-16, enacted by Laws 1978, ch. 35, § 20; 1981, ch. 378, § 1; 1985, ch. 95, § 3; 1987, ch. 128, § 2; 1990, ch. 120, § 23; 1993, ch. 361, § 1; 1999, ch. 49, § 3; 2005, ch. 20, § 1; 2007, ch. 319, § 12; 2009, ch. 156, § 2.

Cross references. — For provisions regarding payment in foreign currency under the Motor Vehicle Code, see 66-6-36 NMSA 1978.

The 2009 amendment, effective July 1, 2009, in Subsection E, in the last sentence, after "expense of providing the service", added the remainder of the sentence.

The 2007 amendment, effective June 15, 2007, provided that an A county with a population exceeding three hundred thousand or a municipality with a population exceeding three hundred thousand in a class A county shall not be paid the fee provided in Subparagraph (b) of Paragraph (1) of Subsection A of Section 66-6-23 NMSA 1978.

The 2005 amendment, effective July 1, 2005, increased the amount of the administrative service fee per transaction from $.50 to $2.00.

The 1999 amendment, effective July 1, 1999, substituted "secretary" for "director" in the second sentence of Subsection A, and added Subsection F.

The 1993 amendment, effective June 18, 1993, substituted "with a population exceeding three hundred thousand or municipality with a population exceeding three hundred thousand" for "or municipality" in Subsection D.

The 1990 amendment, effective July 1, 1990, substituted "secretary" for "director" and "department" for "assigned division employees" (or similar terms) throughout the section, deleted former Subsections D and E relating to the remittance of administrative service fees in certain circumstances, and redesignated former Subsections F and G as present Subsections D and E.

Provision sole authority for collecting fee and exclusive for agents. — Section 64-2-20, 1953 Comp. (similar to this section) authorized the commissioner (now secretary) to establish a schedule of administrative service fees which may be collected by "agents" to defray the costs of operation of the "agents' offices and of rendering service to the public." This was the sole authority for the collection of this administrative service fee and was exclusive for those offices operated by appointed agents. 1960 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 60-189 (rendered under prior law).

Authority of secretary to collect fees. — Legislature expressly authorized commissioner (now secretary) to collect administrative fees, in addition to all other fees and taxes imposed. 1964 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 64-154 (rendered under prior law).

Cannot charge fee for use of premises to examine records. — The department (now division) may not charge private persons a rental fee for the use of department premises to examine and abstract public records. 1968 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 68-90 (opinion rendered prior to addition of Subsection D).

Cannot charge for use of files. — The department (now division) of motor vehicles may not impose a charge against private persons for use of files which are public records. 1968 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 68-90 (opinion rendered prior to addition of Subsection D).