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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T
SPONSOR Rehm
ORIGINAL DATE
LAST UPDATED
2/5/08
2/8/08 HM 53/aHAFC
SHORT TITLE Study Auto Theft in New Mexico
SB
ANALYST Peery-Galon
ESTIMATED ADDITIONAL OPERATING BUDGET IMPACT (dollars in thousands)
FY08
FY09
FY10 3 Year
Total Cost
Recurring
or Non-Rec
Fund
Affected
Total
$0.1
$0.1 Non-
Recurring General
Fund
(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
Relates to House Memorial 28
SOURCES OF INFORMATION
LFC Files
Responses Received From
Taxation and Revenue Department (TRD)
Administrative Office of the District Attorneys (AODA)
No Responses Received From
Attorney General’s Office (AGO)
Department of Public Safety (DPS)
SUMMARY
Synopsis of HAFC Amendment
The House Appropriation and Finance Committee Amendment to House Memorial 53 on page 2,
line 2, strikes “2005" and inserts “2006." The memorial now states “out of three hundred sixty-
one metropolitan areas studied in 2006, Albuquerque had the thirteenth-highest rate of auto
thefts, which increased by forty-five percent from 2006."
Synopsis of Original Bill
House Memorial 53 requests the secretary of the Department of Public Safety and the director of
the Motor Vehicle Division of the Taxation and Revenue Department to assemble a task force
that includes representatives from local law enforcement agencies, motor vehicle insurance
providers or agents, the attorney general’s office, the district attorneys’ association and other
relevant or interested parties to conduct a comprehensive study of the problem of auto theft in
New Mexico. The study is to include the dismantling of vehicles for their components, the
pg_0002
House Memorial 53/aHAFC – Page
2
illegal exporting of stolen vehicles and the changing of vehicle identification numbers in order to
sell stolen vehicles, and to make recommendations on changes to the law or regulations as
necessary. The task force is to examine current certificate of title laws and procedures in New
Mexico and make recommendations on how these laws or procedures can be enhanced to thwart
deceptive practices by car thieves and their accomplices. The task force it to report on its study
and recommendation to the appropriate interim legislative committee during the 2008 interim
and no later than November 1, 2008.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
The agencies selected to participate in the study will have a minimal fiscal impact in regards to
time and travel costs.
AODA states fiscal implications are time away from regular job for each task force members,
travel to meetings, and costs for typing and printing recommendations.
SIGNIFICANT ISSUES
TRD reports the issued raised by the memorial are very real. TRD states active involvement of
the entities proposed as participants in the auto theft task force is a positive step to address the
problem of auto theft.
AODA states the task force created by this memorial would seem to have some overlap with the
task force proposed in House Memorial 28. House Memorial 28 requests the governor to
convene a task force to study the creation of a state authority to combat the problem of
automobile theft in the state.
The Bureau of Justice Statistics reports in 2006 that 9,224 auto thefts were committed in New
Mexico. This number is up by 1,232 auto thefts from 2005.
CONFLICT, DUPLICATION, COMPANIONSHIP, RELATIONSHIP
House Memorial 53 has a relationship with House Memorial 28.
RPG/mt:nt