Delco to reap millions from boost in registration fee
Through increased vehicle registration fees, Delaware County collected more than $830,000 last year - and anticipates collecting $2 million this year - to put towards maintaining and improving the county roads and bridges.
On Feb. 19, 2020, county council approved increasing county residents’ vehicle registration fee by
$5, acting upon Pennsylvania’s 2013 Transportation Funding Law, Act
89, allowing counties to tack on the additional fee. Delaware County was the
25th county in Pennsylvania to enact this provision. Bucks Chester, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties had approved it before Delaware County.
“We really were the last of the five counties to adopt this ordinance,” county Councilman Kevin Madden said. “The reason for its importance is, as vehicles become more efficient ... a lot of the traditional means of funding our infrastructure are getting tougher in the form of fuel taxes, etc. It’s important that we start to think creatively about how we can raise the necessary funding to keep our roads and bridges in good shape ... It’s on schedule so far, the first six months, I think, have gone well. I hope to see more projects that we can point to this fee that is a result of it.”
The fee started being collected as of June 1, 2020.
Jack Bierling, Delaware County’s director of public works, explained that the funding could only be used for the maintenance and improvements of roads, bridges and related items, such as signal projects.
“The funding will be used to improve the county’s own inventory of 43 bridges, which citizens transverse on a regular basis,” he said. “The main benefits of the new registration fee creates a steady stream of transportation funding raised by ... those who use the system and keep it entirely within Delaware County.”
He noted that it would come in use as the county has been working to prioritize its bridge inventory over the last few months.
“As a result, the county is now ready to request the $2 million transportation funding reserve for enacting the $5 registration fee,” Bierling said, adding that by the end of 2020, the county had collected $830,650. “The county has committed to set aside some of the monies to maintain the signage along the bicycle track on Baltimore Pike.”
He said some of the signs had been removed or destroyed and PennDOT had not been replacing them.
Madden said the $5 increase is an investment by all residents who own vehicles to contribute to better roadways, which would prolong the use of the vehicles themselves.
“What $5 a year for every vehicle in Delaware County equates to is about $2 million in total per year,” he said, adding that every dollar spent by county vehicle owners through this fee comes back to Delaware County.
Madden explained that the $830,650 collected in
2020 was below $2 million because it was only collected for six months and the dynamics of last year alone with allowances on vehicle registrations.
“They’re weren’t as many vehicles being reregistered in 2020,” he said.
In addition, Madden said, PennDOT gave a matching contribution of
$2 million to counties that adopted this and allowed Delaware County to receive that match.
“When we can spend $1 and receive $2 for it, it’s money well spent by Delaware County,” the councilman said.
“We really were the last of the five counties to adopt this ordinance. The reason for its importance is, as vehicles become more efficient ... a lot of the traditional means of funding our infrastructure are getting tougher in the form of fuel taxes, etc.”
— County Councilman Kevin Madden