OREM — Paying an extra $10 to register vehicles may end up saving some Utah County residents' future homes from demolition.

County, city and transportation officials voted Thursday night in support of adopting a $10 motor vehicle registration fee for the purpose of preserving future road corridors.

A resolution passed by the Mountainland Regional Planning Committee requests that the Utah County Commission make the fee official before April 1, allowing time for the Utah State Tax Commission to be notified so the fee can be collected beginning July 1.

The fee increase is expected to be on the Utah County Commission agenda Tuesday for approval.

"We've been in discussion with the county commissioners, and they are in support of the idea," said Darrell Cook, executive director of the Mountainland Association of Governments.

A state law that went into effect in 2005 allows counties to raise registration fees up to $10 for advance acquisition of rights-of-way for highways of regional significance.

Only the governing body of a county can decide to raise the vehicle registration fees. If raised, the money will be collected and sent to a state fund, where it collects interest until the county requests the money.

The projects for which the money is used will be prioritized by the Mountainland Regional Planning Committee.

Having the money in a local option transportation corridor preservation fund would allow the metropolitan planning organization to use the money to acquire property while it is vacant and available rather than after it has been developed.

In addition to potentially saving homes, it's a much less expensive alternative, Cook said.

A $10 motor vehicle registration increase would raise about $2.6 million a year for Utah County.

During the 2006 legislative session, $10 million was earmarked to be used as matching funds for corridor preservation.

That dollar-for-dollar match was an additional incentive for mayors to support the resolution. Goshen Mayor Dorothy Sprague was the only dissenting vote.

"No one hates a new tax more than I do," said Provo Mayor Lewis K. Billings, "but the state Legislature is not going to pay for our roads. We're going to pay for it one way or another. They've given us this option, and it seems to me we have no other choice."

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