Division of Criminal Justice Services
Division of State Police
Insurance Department

Administration of the Motor Vehicle Law Enforcement Fee (Follow-Up Review)

Since 1992, a fee of one dollar has been imposed on all motor vehicles insured in New York State. This fee is collected from insurance companies by the Insurance Department. According to State law, the fees from certain types of vehicles are to be used to supplement the efforts of the Division of State Police in preventing automobile theft and insurance fraud, while the fees from other types of vehicles are to be used by the Division of Criminal Justice Services to develop demonstration projects for reducing the incidence of automobile theft and insurance fraud.

In our prior report 99-S-32, we examined the actions taken by the Division of Criminal Justice Services in developing these demonstration projects, and found that improvements could be made in the Division’s process for planning projects, funding projects, and monitoring project effectiveness. We also examined certain aspects of motor vehicle fee administration at the Division of State Police and the Insurance Department. We found that the use of the fees was not separately accounted for by the Division of State Police, and additional actions could be taken by the Insurance Department to provide assurance that all fee revenues were collected from each insurance company. In our follow-up review, we found that good progress had been made by the Division of Criminal Justice Services and the Division of State Police in implementing the recommendations contained in our prior report, but additional actions still needed to be taken by the Insurance Department to improve its controls over the collection of fee revenue.

For a complete copy of Report 2001-F-48 click here.