REPORT TITLE:
Fees


DESCRIPTION:
Authorizes the Department of Education to charge fees for after-
school and weekend programs.  Authorizes towing companies to
collect a fee for road clean-up.  (SB425 HD2)

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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THE SENATE                              S.B. NO.           S.D. 3
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                H.D. 2
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________


                   A  BILL  FOR  AN  ACT

RELATING TO FEES.


BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 1      SECTION 1.  The purpose of this Act is to authorize the
 
 2 department of education to charge fees for after-school and
 
 3 weekend programs and to authorize towing companies to charge a
 
 4 fee for road clean-up.
 
 5      SECTION 2.  Section 291C-165.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
 6 amended by amending subsection (b) to read as follows:
 
 7      "(b)  The towing company shall determine the name of the
 
 8 lien holder and the registered owner of the vehicle from the
 
 9 department of transportation or the county department of finance.
 
10 The lien holder and the registered owner shall be notified by the
 
11 towing company in writing at the address on record with the
 
12 department of transportation or with the county department of
 
13 finance by registered or certified mail of the location of the
 
14 vehicle, together with a description of the vehicle, within a
 
15 reasonable period not to exceed twenty days following the tow.
 
16 The notice shall state:
 
17      (1)  The maximum towing charges and fees allowed by law;
 
18      (2)  The telephone number of the county finance department
 
19           that arranged for or authorized the tow; and
 

 
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 1      (3)  That if the vehicle is not recovered within thirty days
 
 2           after the mailing of the notice, the vehicle shall be
 
 3           deemed abandoned and will be sold or disposed of as
 
 4           junk.
 
 5 When the vehicle is recovered after the tow by the registered
 
 6 owner or lien holder, the party recovering the vehicle shall pay
 
 7 the tow and storage charges which shall not exceed the charges as
 
 8 provided by section 290-11(b) or the rates agreed upon with the
 
 9 respective counties, whichever is lower, except that tow
 
10 operators may charge additional reasonable amounts for
 
11 [excavating] recovering vehicles from off-road locations[;] and
 
12 up to $15 for road clean-up if, pursuant to an agreement with the
 
13 respective counties, the towing company is required to clean and
 
14 clear the roadway and, in cases of spills or leaks, provide,
 
15 apply, and remove absorbent material and the services are
 
16 actually performed; provided that if the notice required by this
 
17 section was not sent within twenty days after the tow, neither
 
18 the registered owner nor the lien holder shall be required to pay
 
19 the tow and storage charges.  No notice shall be sent to a legal
 
20 or registered owner or any person with any unrecorded interest in
 
21 the vehicle whose name or address cannot be determined.  A person
 
22 who has been charged in excess of the charges permitted under
 
23 this section may sue for damages sustained[,] and, if the
 
24 judgment is for the plaintiff, the court shall award the
 

 
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 1 plaintiff a sum not to exceed the amount of these damages and
 
 2 reasonable attorney's fees together with the cost of the suit.
 
 3 No charges other than those explicitly authorized by this section
 
 4 may be assessed by the tow operator upon the owner of the towed
 
 5 vehicle relating to a tow performed pursuant to this section.
 
 6 The provisions of this section shall apply to all tows specified
 
 7 in subsection (a) where a person other than the vehicle's owner
 
 8 or driver requests a tow, irrespective of whether the owner or
 
 9 driver of the vehicle subsequently consents or agrees to the tow
 
10 of the vehicle."
 
11      SECTION 3.  Section 302A-408, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is
 
12 amended to read as follows:
 
13      "[[]�302A-408[]]  After-school and weekend programs.  The
 
14 department and the appropriate county agencies may establish and
 
15 regulate programs of after-school and weekend community-school
 
16 activities for children, including but not limited to day-care
 
17 programs, arts and crafts, hula, ukulele, and other educational
 
18 or recreational projects, wherever feasible, at public school and
 
19 public park facilities.  In addition to any appropriation of
 
20 public funds, [reasonable] fees [established by the agencies
 
21 operating the programs may be collected from children enrolled,
 
22 in the furtherance of particular programs.] of $           per
 

 
 
 
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 1 child shall be charged for each child enrolled; provided that the
 
 2 department by rule adopted under chapter 91 may reduce the fee
 
 3 due to a child's family's economic circumstances or for more than
 
 4 one child per family enrolled in the program.  The appropriate
 
 5 agencies may obtain from time to time the services of persons in
 
 6 a voluntary or unpaid capacity, exempt from chapters 76 and 77,
 
 7 as may be necessary for carrying out the purposes of this
 
 8 section, and may regulate their duties, powers, and
 
 9 responsibilities when not otherwise provided by law.  Any person
 
10 whose services have been so accepted, while engaged in the
 
11 performance of duty under this section, shall be deemed a state
 
12 employee or an employee of a political subdivision, as the case
 
13 may be, in determining the liability of the State or the
 
14 political subdivision for the negligent acts of these persons."
 
15      SECTION 4.  Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, where a
 
16 fee has been set by statute, the affected department may change
 
17 such fee by administrative rule.
 
18      SECTION 5.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed.
 
19 New statutory material is underscored.
 
20      SECTION 6.  This Act shall take effect on July 1, 1999.