Relating to electric motor vehicles, including by creating an electric vehicle charging station grant program and fund, creating an electric vehicle registration fee tax credit, and exempting customers of an electric utility who have paid electric vehicle registration fees from certain user or franchise fees, making appropriations, and including applicability provisions

This bill requires the department of transportation (DOT) to establish and administer an electric vehicle charging station grant program. The bill creates an electric vehicle charging station grant fund which is administered and controlled by the DOT. The bill transfers moneys from the Iowa coronavirus capital projects fund to the electric vehicle charging station grant fund, and appropriates such moneys to the DOT to provide grants for the construction of electric vehicle charging stations outside of alternative fuel corridors designated by the federal highway administration. The bill also appropriates moneys from the Volkswagen partial settlement and transfers moneys from the Iowa coronavirus capital projects fund to the electric vehicle charging station grant fund to build electric vehicle charging stations on the state capitol complex grounds, in amounts determined by the department of administrative services. The DOT must adopt rules to administer the grant program. The DOT may establish a limit on the amount of moneys that may be awarded as a grant in order to maximize the use of the moneys in the fund. The bill strikes out-of-date provisions relating to the increase in registration fees imposed on owners of battery electric and plug-in hybrid electric motor vehicles. The bill requires the DOT to document the average number of miles traveled per vehicle per year by registered battery electric motor vehicles, plug-in hybrid electric motor vehicles, and electric motorcycles. The bill creates a new tax credit available to persons who pay registration fees for battery electric and plug-in hybrid electric motor vehicles and motorcycles. The tax credit is allowed against personal net income taxes and business taxes on corporations. The tax credit is not refundable but can be credited to the tax liability for the following five years or until depleted, whichever is earlier. However, the tax credit cannot be carried back to a tax year prior to the tax year in which the taxpayer first receives the tax credit. The bill provides that the DOT controls the issuance of tax credit certificates to persons who pay registration fees for battery electric and plug-in hybrid electric motor vehicles and motorcycles. The tax credit certificate must contain the taxpayer’s name, address, tax identification number, amount of the credit, and any other information as required by the department of revenue (DOR). A person must include the tax credit certificate with the person’s tax return in order to claim the tax credit, which, unless rescinded by the DOT, must be accepted by the DOR as payment for taxes. The bill prohibits a person from transferring the tax credit certificate to any other person. The portions of the bill relating to the new tax credit apply to tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2023. Lastly, the bill provides that a residential customer of an electric utility subject to rate regulation by the Iowa utilities board is exempt from paying any user fee or franchise fee on the first 282 kilowatt hours of electricity per month if the residential customer submits to the electric utility proof that the customer paid a registration fee for a battery electric motor vehicle, plug-in hybrid electric motor vehicle, or electric motorcycle within the previous one-year period.