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Vehicle Registration Fee on November ballot

The county strives to be efficient and effective with road maintenance funds, but they face a double challenge: material costs are escalating rapidly, while people are driving less and switching to more fuel-efficient vehicles. As a result, current gas taxes are not enough to pay for all current maintenance needs.

This November, Washington County residents will vote on Measure 34-221, a proposed countywide vehicle registration fee, as a local solution to this challenge. The proposed fee would be $30 per year for most vehicles, and $17 per year for motorcycles. Funds would be used for proactively maintaining county and city roads.

Earlier this summer, the Board of County Commissioners approved an ordinance referring the proposed vehicle registration fee to the voters at the November 4 general election. The BCC had the power to impose the fee without calling for a vote, but decided that it would be better to trust citizens to agree to the fee because we understand the need.

The ordinance also clarified that the county's share of revenue from the fee could only be used for county road maintenance and operation. Cities can decide exactly how to use the money, but state law says revenue may be used only for maintenance and road purposes. If approved by the voters, the fee would take effect for vehicles obtaining initial registration or renewing registrations on or after January 1, 2016.

Washington County maintains 1,300 centerline miles of roads (approximately 3,000 lane miles), from major urban boulevards to gravel roads in the Coast Range. Recent surveys indicate a majority of Washington County residents rank road system maintenance as a high or very high transportation priority.

The condition of our roads is deteriorating, and our list of deferred maintenance needs is currently more than $10.5 million and growing. Over the past ten years, the average pavement condition rating of the county road system has dropped more than ten points (on a scale of 0-100). It is projected to decline another ten points over the next decade with current funding sources. 

URMD-maintained roads are outlined in yellow. All other roads depend on gas taxes for maintenance funding.

As every homeowner knows, preventive maintenance avoids costly future repairs. Fixing roads after they've deteriorated can cost five to ten times as much as preventive maintenance. Treating roads at the right time saves taxpayers money over the long term—potentially tens of millions of dollars over the next 20-30 years.

Here in Cedar Mill, local streets are maintained with funds from the Urban Road Maintenance District taxes that we pay. But for our major roads such as Cornell and Murray, and all roads once you leave the URMD boundaries, maintenance depends on the 30-cents-per-gallon gas tax, large truck weight-mile fees and vehicle registration fees collected by the state, along with funds from an additional one-cent-per-gallon local gas tax levied in the county. Washington County also receives some limited state and federal funding, are allocated on a competitive basis, generally through Metro, our elected regional government.

The Oregonian newspaper editorial board, not known for it’s liberal leanings, is urging a YES vote on this measure. We concur.

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