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The Clackamas
County Board of Commissioners is holding two public hearings in February on
a proposed ordinance to establish a countywide vehicle registration fee
(VRF) of $30/vehicle/year.
The hearings will
be held Thursday, Feb. 7 at 10 a.m. and Thursday, Feb. 21 at 6 p.m. in the
Public Services Building, 2051 Kaen Road, Oregon City. The Board hearing
room is located on the 4th floor. The public is welcome to attend to
present comments of up to three minutes and/or to submit written
comments.
Those who would
like to attend, but cannot may submit written comments or testimony by mail
or drop-off by addressing them to Ellen Rogalin, Development Services
Building, 150 Beavercreek Road, Oregon City, OR 97045 or by email to ellenrog@clackamas.us. Written
comments must be received no later than Feb. 21.
The proposed VRF
would apply to cars, pick-up trucks, vans and other passenger vehicles
registered in Clackamas County. The fee for motorcycles would be
$15/year/vehicle. Since Oregonians pay vehicle registration fees two
years at a time, that is a potential increase of $60 every two years for
most motorists and $30 every two years for motorcyclists.
Vehicles exempt
from the fee include snow mobiles and Class 1 all-terrain vehicles,
fixed-load vehicles, antique vehicles, vehicles registered to disabled
veterans, farm vehicles, travel trailers, campers and motor homes, school
buses, government-owned and law enforcement vehicles, and heavy trucks.
Commissioners are
considering the ordinance following years of analysis and discussions with
the community, businesses and cities in the county.
“Clackamas County
is the only one of the three Portland area counties without a source of
local funds for road projects,” said Clackamas County Chair Jim Bernard.
“That means our options for meeting local needs for safety improvements,
congestion relief and maintenance of local roads are severely limited,” he
said.
In accordance with
state law, 40 percent of the VRF revenue would go to cities in the
county, based on population. Of the remaining 60 percent, which
normally would all go to the county, 10 percent will be paid into a
strategic investment fund for the county and cities to fund
multi-jurisdictional projects.
According to
Assistant Director for Transportation Mike Bezner, the county will use its
funds to relieve congestion, maintain local roads and implement safety
improvements.
“We already have a
long list of needed projects in our Transportation System Plan that was
created with extensive public input,” he said. “Between that list, our
urgent need to maintain local neighborhood roads, and to make needed safety
improvements, the additional VRF revenue will enable us to provide
transportation improvements on roads throughout our county,” he
said.
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