With a unanimous vote, the Chester County Commissioners gave new meaning to the concept of bridging financial gaps at their meeting on Thursday, Feb. 11.
The commissioners voted to charge an additional $5 fee for vehicle registrations, a move that has already been adopted in seven other Pennsylvania counties, including Bucks and Philadelphia. The commissioners said Montgomery County is reviewing it.
Under a state law that took effect on Jan. 1, 2015, counties can impose the registration fee on most vehicles; certain vehicles, such as construction equipment and trailers, would be exempt. The funds can only be used for transportation improvement projects, such as bridge maintenance and repair.
Steve Fromnick, the county’s director of facilities and parks, said Chester County owns 94 bridges, which were designed to last 50 years. More than 60 percent of them are now over 75 years old, and more than a third are over 100 years old, he said.
Fromnick explained that the county has pursued an aggressive goal of rehabilitating two of the aging spans a year; however, cuts in state and federal funding have permitted an average of 1.1 per year. He said further decreases are likely in the liquid fuels tax and the Marcellus Shale funds, both of which help offset bridge maintenance costs.
County officials estimate that Chester County has approximately 440,000 registered vehicles that would be subject to the $5 fee, which will go into effect on June 1. Therefore, the ordinance is expected to generate approximately $2.2 million annually for Chester County bridge projects.
According to county records, Chester County spent approximately $2.7 million on bridge replacement and repair in 2015, which included nearly $785,000 in state and federal contributions. The addition of approximately $2.2 million a year would bring the county’s average to 1.5 bridges per year.
In response to a question from Commissioner Michelle Kichline about how the county would get the money, Fromnick said that PennDOT would set up a separate account for Chester County and remit the proceeds twice a year: in June and December. “It’s a pass-through as far as PennDOT is concerned,” Fromnick said.
Officials said funds from the $5 fee would give the county greater flexibility to address the unique needs of county bridges without the constraints often imposed by state and federal funding. In addition, Commissioner Kathi Cozzone pointed out that the funds could be used as match funding for certain projects, thus leveraging more state and federal grant money.
Other unanimous approvals during the brief meeting included the authorization of bids for the plaza deck at the Government Services Building and the approval of the issuance of up to $80 million in general obligation bonds to finance a portion of the county’s ongoing capital improvement program.
