Judge Grants Delay in Ruling on Payments for Smog Fee Case

SACRAMENTO —  A final ruling is expected in two weeks on whether attorneys who argued against the state’s vehicle smog fees should be paid the $88.5 million they were awarded by an arbitration panel.

Sacramento Superior Court Judge Joe S. Gray on Wednesday granted the attorneys’ request for more time to file case studies that they say will back up their argument that the fee was awarded legally.

The decision came a day after Gray issued a tentative ruling that said the three-member arbitration panel violated state law by awarding the fee, which amounts to about $8,800 an hour.

Thousands of motorists who registered out-of-state vehicles in California in the 1990s had to pay the fees, but they were found unconstitutional in October 1999. The Legislature and Gov. Gray Davis agreed last year to set aside about $665 million to refund the fees, including interest.

The state has challenged the manner in which the arbitration panel decided the fee.

In a separate challenge, Board of Equalization Chairman Dean Andal has sued the state to stop it from paying the fee. A hearing on those constitutional arguments is scheduled for early May.