Davis OKs increase in registration fees

FARMINGTON — Starting July 1, registration fees will be $10 higher for vehicles in Davis County.

The Davis County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved the increase Tuesday so that the county can start buying land for future road corridors.

"I'm anxious to move ahead — in my car," said Commissioner Louenda Downs.

The fee increase is expected to bring in about $2 million a year, money that would be eligible for some of the $30 million in matching funds from the state of Utah if used for state road corridors.

The increase means Davis County joins four other counties — Salt Lake, Utah, Summit and Wasatch — that have implemented the $10 fee for corridor preservation.

Weber County Commissioner Jan Zogmaister is currently studying the issue, said Weber Commission spokesman Mike Caldwell.

Davis Commissioner Bret Millburn said he recently spent time in the northern part of Davis County and a thought struck him about the once-agrarian area.

"Everywhere you turn, there are homes sprouting. It's like weeds in my garden," Millburn said. "How are these people going to move, not just from the north-south perspective, but east and west?"

Raw land is much cheaper to purchase than land that has been improved on, he said.

Downs and Millburn said that while they were on the campaign trail, they heard from hundreds of residents who urged them to increase the registration fees for corridor preservation.

Commissioner Alan Hansen, who voted down the registration fee increase in 2006 with former commissioners Carol Page and Dannie McConkie, said that it wasn't a popular decision.

"I don't think I had one e-mail saying thank you for voting it down," Hansen said.

He said he's spent the past year learning about the importance of corridor preservation and how much money can be saved over time by buying land now.

Counties can collect on the matching money as soon as they have a priority list of projects, said George Ramjoue, planning manager for the Wasatch Front Regional Council.

That list is expected to be compiled by members of the Davis County Council of Governments and approved by commissioners. The list will likely be based on the Wasatch Front Regional Council's long-range transportation plan, which includes projects until 2030.

So far, no counties have collected on the matching funds, Ramjoue said.

High on Davis County's priority list would be an extension of the Legacy Parkway. The parkway is now being built in the southern part of the county.