Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
County OKs $5 car fee for infrastructure improvements
MEDIA » Delaware County Council unanimously approved a $5 fee on county vehicle registrations, a move that’s anticipated to raise more than $4 million for bridge and road improvements.
The earliest it could be put into place is May 24 and will be collected anytime a county resident registers their vehicle with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.
“The easiest thing in the world for an elected office holder to do is to do nothing,” county Councilman Kevin Madden said. “We could sit here and we could watch our infrastructure decay day in, day out ... The tough decisions to make are when we do something that may not be the most popular thing in the world to every single Delaware County resident but are necessary for us to deliver the services that we are up here to make sure are provided.”
He referenced a USA Today survey that ranked Pennsylvania 47th out of 50 in a state-by-state comparison of infrastructure.
County Councilwoman Elaine Paul Schaefer noted that nine of 42 county bridges are determined to be structurally deficient.
“No matter where you fall on the political spectrum or no matter how you view government, there are few quintessential government functions that I think we can all agree that we need to make our society run safely and well,” she said, adding that includes public safety and first responders and the infrastructure of roads and bridges. “This is a fee that is targeted to the people using those roads and bridges. It’s really supporting the underpinning of our economy. You really can’t have a successful economy if you can’t get from Point A to Point B safely.”
In 2013, the Pennsylvania Legislature enacted Act 89 that allowed counties to pass an annual $5 fee on non-exempt vehicles registered to an address within their boundaries. Twentythree counties have since enacted the measure, including Bucks, Chester, Montgomery and Philadelphia.
Liquid fuel tax revenue has been declining as vehicles are more fuel efficient.
Two members of the public voiced their opinion at a hearing Wednesday.
Elizabeth Williams, who is also a member of Chester City Council, noted a historical context.
In 1870, she said, “there was a $5 fee put on for vehicles that ran through the city of Chester so that’s not so out of touch. It just shows you how history repeats itself.”
Lewis Walker of Newtown Square had another view.
“I think it’s patently unfair to double tax the people driving the gasoline vehicles,” he said. “And I think there should be a better alternative since the gasoline drivers pay every time they buy gas. The electrically charged vehicles do not.”
He recommended a vehicle-efficiency tax based on number of miles driven a year as he said the registration fee increase was a subsidy for the wealthy.
“It adds up quickly,” Walker said of required fees. “The money isn’t your money, the money’s the taxpayers’ money.”
In its first year, Delaware County is eligible for a 100 percent match from the state so for every $5 paid, Delaware County will receive $10. Therefore, county officials anticipate receiving approximately $4.4 million with the state match from the 400,000 vehicles registered to county addresses.
While conceding the money was public funds, council members said if the money isn’t allocated to Delaware County, it will go elsewhere.
“It does ultimately come from taxpayers,” Schaefer said. “However, that money is in the state to be spent and if we don’t get it, it’s going to another county.”
In addition, County Councilwoman Christine Reuther said the county is limited on what fees and taxes it can enact as outlined by the state Legislature.
“If the state government allows us to put an additional fee on miles driven by electric cars in lieu of the liquid fuels tax ... I will be the first one to propose that we adopt it here.”
And, she noted that the fee is relative to other costs of owning a car, particularly if the roads are not maintained.
“This $5 fee is pretty small when you compare it to the damage that various sources estimate each car owner incurs as a result of badly damaged roads,” she said, adding that she herself blew a tire on a pothole and she’s known others who have had their vehicle axles bent.
Controller Joanne Phillips recommended that a process is outlined so that the funds are properly restricted and distributed in the most productive way.
Madden said the county has some discretion in the way the money is spent, either for larger projects such as fixing the bridges or through allocating it to the 49 municipalities, which can be handed out based on population, totality of roads or a grant program.
“This 100 cents on the dollar comes back to Delaware County,” he emphasized. “It doesn’t get lost in Harrisburg, it comes here. One-hundred cents on the dollar from your vehicle registration goes into your roadways and your bridges.”
County council Chairman Brian Zidek summed up the matter.
“I ... do not relish the idea of asking Delaware County citizens to pay more for anything,” he said. “But, in an instance where we can ask them to pay $5 and get $10 worth of benefits, I feel like I would be negligent in my duty in not voting in favor of that.”