County residents could pay an extra $5 for their state vehicle registration to help fix Delaware County’s broken down bridges and other infrastructure projects, writes Kathleen Carey for the Daily Times.

Delaware County Council is looking at the $5 annual fee, allowed under state Act 89, to cover local transportation costs, like bridge repairs.

About a quarter of the county’s bridges, 42, need repair work. Nine are structurally deficient.

If county council approves the fee, annual car registrations for county residents would increase from $36 to $41.

Delaware County has 400,000 registered vehicles.  The fee would generate about $2 million in revenue, which can be matched by the state for a total of $4 million.

The hope is to have the annual fee begin the end of May.

If the fee is approved and extra revenue becomes available, county infrastructure projects will be prioritized.

Revenue from state gas taxes have dropped as cars become more fuel efficient, so other revenues are needed for transportation costs.

“In some cases, they don’t burn gasoline at all, the way in which we have been funding our infrastructure is becoming more and more challenging,” said Councilman Kevin Madden.

Read more about this proposed fee here.

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