Panel wants $9 fee boost for vehicles

A legislative task force that spent the past two years studying transportation funding issues has recommended a $9 increase in vehicle registration fees, among other tax and fee increases, to finance road construction.

The Transportation Planning Task Force also proposed Wednesday that the state's Centennial Highway Fund, financed by a 5-cent increase in the state's per-gallon gasoline tax seven years ago, be incorporated into a new program called the Transportation Investment Fund (TIF).

The TIF would continue to receive the revenue now designated for the Centennial fund — as well as money from the proposed hike in vehicle registration fees, a $6 (100 percent) increase in vehicle title fees and an influx of general fund monies — with the intention of creating a $4.5 billion road-building fund for use from 2005-20014.

"We wanted a diversification of funding (so) that all the citizens of the state were to benefit," task force co-chairwoman Sen. Carlene Walker, R-Sandy, told the Transportation Interim Committee. "We are nearing a crisis situation (in transportation) and we knew we needed new revenue.

"We spent many, many hours talking about all of these challenges."

The concept of the investment fund, which will be presented in the form of a bill during the 2005 Utah Legislature this winter, would require $90 million worth of general fund revenue for the first year and $180 million for the second and subsequent years.

Task force members made some suggestions about how those additional funds could be garnered, including a reapportionment of sales tax money from the sale of automobiles and vehicle parts.

According to the task force, a $9 hike in registration fees would generate $178 million over 10 years. A 10 percent hike in registration for commercial carriers and farm equipment, also proposed, would garner $23 million over the same period. And the $6 hike in title fees would reap another $46 million.

Reapportioning sales tax on motor vehicle and parts sales would generate $269 million over 10 years; and a sales tax increase of one-quarter of one percent would generate $80 million, according to the task force.

In addition to retiring the Centennial fund, the TIF bill also would change the way road projects are prioritized. That exact method has yet to be determined, however. The task force has asked the Utah Transportation Commission to come up with an objective way to prioritize highway needs.