CA Department of Motor Vehicles- News Release - DMV Delivers on Governor Schwarzenegger's Promise; Transmit First Car Tax Refunds to Controller

SACRAMENTO - Delivering on a promise made by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger last November 17th, the California Department of Motor Vehicles today transmitted to the State Controller's Office, right on schedule, the first computer files to begin issuing refund checks to millions of Californians who overpaid their car tax.

The Controller's Office said they would begin mailing the first checks on Friday of this week (1/30).

As his first act in office November 17th, Schwarzenegger signed an executive order, slashing the car tax retroactively by two-thirds. At that time, DMV said refunds would be issued "as early in the New Year as possible." Department officials said today's action fulfills that commitment.

Schwarzenegger praised DMV employees. "Your accomplishment is truly remarkable," he said. "It shows what government can do when we put our minds to it."

Today's initial data transmission from DMV will trigger refund checks to the first 117,565 recipients, amounting to approximately $15.8 million. Because the last of the bills at the higher amount aren't due until Wednesday (1/28), and because some people pay late with penalties, refunds will continue for several weeks. By the time the last check is mailed, around $600 million will be returned to the pocketbooks of an estimated 4.7 million vehicle owners who paid the higher rate.

The average refund is $135. But for owners of newer and more expensive cars and trucks, the refunds can be hundreds of dollars.

The day after the Governor's November 17th rollback of the car tax, DMV stunned Californians by announcing that, possibly for the first time in American history, citizens would be allowed to recalculate their own car tax bills and pay the lower amount. To assist them, DMV placed an automatic recalculator on its Web site. Of the roughly 4.2 million customers given the choice of recalculating their own bills after November 17th, approximately 60% (roughly 2.5 million customers) did so. The rest get refunds.

Seven days after the Governor's rollback, in an unprecedented burst of speed, DMV officials surprised longtime observers of state government by announcing they had successfully reprogrammed their mainframe computers to start billing vehicle owners at the lower rate in one-fourth the usual time. They did it in one week instead of a month.

DMV officials said programming for this week's refunds was precisely on schedule.

The refund software had to be created laboriously by DMV programmers working long hours, including evenings and weekends. To ensure that proper payments were made, the process required numerous file passes to remove people who failed to pass smog tests or supply proof of insurance, people whose checks bounced, etc. Programmers worked all last weekend loading refund data into the new software the moment testing was completed so the refund data could go to the Controller today for payment.

Department officials said they put the pedal to the metal because they knew Californians were chomping at the bit to receive their refunds.