Johnston

In the court below, plaintiff class (plaintiffs), which consists of all persons whose vehicle registrations expired on December 31, 1981, and who paid their registration renewal fees on or before that date, argued defendant Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) illegally collected from plaintiffs new and increased renewal fees. Plaintiffs contended DMV was without legal authority to collect the fees before January 1, 1982. The parties filed cross-motions for summary judgment. The trial court denied plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment and entered summary judgment in favor of DMV. We conclude some fees were properly collected in 1981 and some were not. Accordingly, we reverse the summary judgment and remand to the trial court for further proceedings.

Factual and Procedural Background

Prior to the enactment in September of chapter 541 of the Statutes of 1981 (hereafter all chapter references are to the Statutes of 1981 unless otherwise indicated), total fees due for the registration of private and commercial vehicles consisted of the sum of several separate elements. One was a basic registration fee of $11 as set forth in Vehicle Code section 9250. (Unless otherwise…