2021 New Mexico Statutes
Chapter 66 - Motor Vehicles
Article 6 - Fees
Section 66-6-25 - Registration by county or municipality prohibited.
A. No county or municipality shall require registration or charge fees for any vehicle subject to registration under the Motor Vehicle Code [66-1-1 NMSA 1978].
B. Notwithstanding the provisions of Subsection A of this section, a county or municipality designated as an agent pursuant to Section 66-2-14.1 NMSA 1978 may impose a fee in an amount not to exceed five dollars ($5.00) per year in addition to any other registration fee required. This fee shall not be imposed if the county or municipality has imposed a gasoline tax pursuant to the County and Municipal Gasoline Tax Act [Chapter 7, Article 24A NMSA 1978], the proceeds of which are used to fund a vehicle emission inspection program. Any money collected as a result of the imposition of an additional fee pursuant to this subsection shall be used only to fund a vehicle emission inspection program.
History: 1953 Comp., § 64-6-25, enacted by Laws 1978, ch. 35, § 360; 1985, ch. 95, § 5.
ANNOTATIONSMotor vehicle inspection fee not valid exercise of localities' home rule power. Chapman v. Luna, 1984-NMSC-029, 101 N.M. 59, 678 P.2d 687, cert. denied, 474 U.S. 947, 106 S. Ct. 345, 88 L. Ed. 2d 292 (1985).
Local emissions testing fee prohibited. — Where a city and county impose a fee to defray the administrative costs of vehicle emissions testing, such a fee is invalid because this section prohibits any fee regardless of the purpose. Chapman v. Luna, 1984-NMSC-029, 101 N.M. 59, 678 P.2d 687, cert. denied, 474 U.S. 947, 106 S. Ct. 345, 88 L. Ed. 2d 292 (1985).
