Centre County Government’s Willowbank Building in Bellefonte. Photo by Geoff Rushton | StateCollege.com

The additional $5 fee for non-exempt vehicles registered in Centre County will remain in place for five more years.

County commissioners voted 2-1 on Tuesday to extend the ordinance establishing the fee for local use through 2027.

Enacted in 2017, the fees are collected as part of the state vehicle registration process and paid back to the county in June and December of each year to be used for road and bridge projects. Act 89 of 2013 allows counties to impose the fee and all of the money returned to the county is to be allocated to municipalities.

The ordinance establishing the fee had a sunset clause after five years, and PennDOT required 90 days notice if the fee collection is to continue

As he did in 2017, Commissioner Steve Dershem voted no, citing the fact that the county itself does not own any roads and the cost burden for some vehicle owners.

“We don’t own any roads. That’s been kind of my angst about this…” Dershem said. “To me, particularly with trailers, as I’ve said before, it’s onerous.

“Certainly I will grant that every dollar has been spent on this program. It’s just not one I can yet support, but I appreciate its value.”

Just over 120,000 non-exempt vehicles are registered in Centre County and last year the county collected about $600,000 from the fee.

About 6,000 vehicles in the county are exempt from registration and the additional fee, and retirees who are eligible for the flat $10 state registration fee also do not have to pay the additional $5.

Since its establishment, the fee has been used to allocate $2 million to help fund 16 bridge and road projects in 15 municipalities.

“With the $5 fee, every dollar we collect goes direct to engineering and actual road and bridge repair,” Commissioner Mark Higgins said. “None of this money is kept by the county. Every dollar is spent on actual work.”

The fee for local use is part of the county’s Local Transportation Funding Program, also established in 2017, to provide flexibility among a variety of funds for transportation projects. It also includes the Liquid Fuels Fund, allocated by PennDOT from state fuel taxes, and Act 13 allocations from PennDOT for at-risk bridges.

Each year, municipalities request between $1 million to $2 million in liquid fuels funds, but the county only receives $160,000 to $200,000 annually.

“We know the need is there,” Board of Commissioners Chair Michael Pipe said. “We continue to not be able to have enough liquid fuels money so I think the impact has been positive over the last five years with this. I’m looking forward to another five years.

Pipe and Higgins noted the importance of having matching funds available for transportation projects.

“If you have a million dollar bridge repair, the state doesn’t give you a million dollars,” Higgins said. “If you want any money from the state, you have to come up with some percentage of that yourself. Whether its a quarter of the money or half the money or 20 percent of the money, the state doesn’t just give you the cash. Our municipalities every year like clockwork say ‘we have between a million to 2 million dollars, not of projects, but of local match money we’d like the county to help us with.’”

Since the fee’s implementation, every dollar has leveraged $4 in state and federal funds — $8 million in total.

Pipe and Higgins also cited escalating costs of delaying road and bridge repairs.

“If we don’t fix it now, we’re going to fix it later at a higher price,” Pipe said.

Commissioners also voted to allocate of $266,905 in fee for local use funding to six projects out of the county’s anticipated payment in June.

Bellefonte Borough

Project: Streetscape safety improvements on South Spring and West Bishop streets

Recommended allocation: $25,000.00

Municipal or other contribution $256,593.00

Project total: $281,593.00

Curtin Township

Project: Fix deterioration of Blue Row (T486) and Middletown Road (T504)

Recommended allocation: $57,150.00

Municipal or other contribution: $57,150.00

Project total: $114,300.00

Gregg Township

Project: Signs for Bitner Hollow (T453), Grenoble (T459,) and Bluebell (T470) roads

Recommended allocation: $3,066.37

Municipal or other contribution: $1,372.80

Project total: $4,439.17

Millheim Borough

Project: Signs (83) and equipment (MX6000HSTC Kubota with boom mower and front-end loader).

Recommended allocation: $13,788.99

Municipal or other contribution: $49,105.00

Project total: $62,883.99

Rush Township

Project: Improve McCord Road (T626) so opposing traffic can pass.

Recommended allocation: $83,816.25

Municipal or other contribution: $83,816.25

Project total: $167,632.50

Snow Shoe Borough

Project: Improve deteriorating roadway on West Sunset Avenue

Recommended allocation: $84,094.00

Municipal or other contribution: $25,000.00

Project total: $109,094.00

Source: https://www.statecollege.com/centre-county-extends-5-vehicle-registration-fee-for-five-more-years/