Vehicle License Surcharge to Help Parks

An initiative to establish a $18 annual vehicle license surcharge to help fund state parks and wildlife programs has been put into motion.

The plan is to set up a new trust fund that the will require the $18 annual state vehicle license fee be deposited in this account. The trust will be used solely to operate, maintain and repair the state park system. It will also protect wildlife and natural resources that the parks encompass.

"California state parks are in peril because of chronic underfunding," said Elizabeth Goldstein, President of the California State Parks Foundation in a statement. "Our state parks were once considered the best in the nation, and now they're falling apart and threatened with closure because they have no reliable source of funding. This parks measure would create a dedicated funding source to prevent park Proposed Ballot Measure Filed to Protect California State Parks & Conserve Wildlife closures, eliminate a backlog of more than a billion dollars in repairs and properly maintain parks and other natural resources for our children and grandchildren to enjoy," according to kron4.com

The new fee according the initiative is said to increase state revenues about $500 million annually and will be mainly used to fund state parks and wildlife conservation programs. Creating a potential state savings of $200 million annually.

Vehicles exempt from the increase are commercial vehicles, trailers and trailer coaches.