Just three years after the Ohio Legislature raised vehicle registration and licensing rates to help offset a planned phaseout of the state gasoline tax, a state-appointed task force is recommending another increase in those fees.
A recent report from the Ohio State Highway Patrol Funding Task Force, a 19-member panel created by the General Assembly in 2007, calls for an additional $5.75 to register a passenger vehicle and a $19 increase for commercial truck registration, among other recommendations.
The money is expected to generate an extra $106 million toward the patrol's annual budget of approximately $300 million.
"They just increased the fees not long ago. I'd say 95 percent of this is due to rising fuel costs," said Joe Pinkerton of Radabaugh Road.
"We currently register three personal motor vehicles, and increasing fees by $5 here and $10 there can add up...," he said. "They're putting these increases on the backs of the consumers, and I don't think it will go over very well."
Jeff Starner, owner of the local Merchants 5 Star Inc. trucking company with more than 300 trucks, agreed.
"The trucking industry is being caught up in a perfect storm of rising fuel prices and increasing fees," he said. "And most people don't realize that we're already paying from $1,400 to $1,800 a year for IRP (International Registration Plan) license plates on Class A tractor rigs."
The IRP was created to standardize fees for trucking companies operating in multiple states. Starner said those fees are distributed to each state according to the miles a company truck travels within that state annually.
The task force recommendations include a 2.5 percent increase in the IRP fees.
Other fee hikes proposed by the task force include $1 for vision screenings, $5 for temporary tags and a $10 late fee for driver license or registration renewals.
"My understanding is that in 2010 the highway patrol will experience a large loss in revenue, and this study is trying to address that," said Rep. Jennifer Garrison, D-Marietta. "I personally feel that people are already paying enough, considering the high gas prices, but I'll have to reserve further comment until I can do a better review of the (task force) report."
Garrison said the report will likely be part of the General Assembly's next biennial budget talks after the first of the year.
Ohio Department of Public Safety officials say any increases would probably not take place until the summer of 2009.
The last fee increases came from the state's fiscal 2004-05 budget, and provided for an $11 fee increase for vehicle registrations, a $12 increase for driver licenses and a $5 increase for temporary tags, according to the task force report.
