Salt Lake County drops fee standards

The fee Salt Lake County motorists pay for an emissions test is now up in the air, so to speak.

Ignoring the possibility of a class-action lawsuit and openly flouting state law, the Salt Lake County Council decided Tuesday to eliminate all restrictions on the test fees, essentially deregulating the emission test market. By doing so, repair shops and inspection centers will now be allowed to set the fee as high or as low as they desire.

Because of revisions to state law made by the Utah Legislature earlier this year that required vehicles 5 years old or newer to be tested every other year, station owners have been pushing for a $7.50 increase — the most permitted by state law — which would have made the tests cost $32.50. Instead, the council decided to attempt to skirt the law by simply removing any fee standards.

"The law says we can't increase it more than $7.50, but we're not increasing it at all," Councilman Russell Skousen said. "We're getting out of the business of regulating it."

Skousen predicted that by eliminating the fee restrictions, the fees would actually drop because consumers would shop for the best price for the mandated service. Meanwhile, setting a cap on emission testing fees would allow auto service stations to charge the maximum.

The council was buoyed, however, by statements from two legislators, Sen. Dan Eastman, R-Bountiful, and Sen. Chris Buttars, R-West Jordan, that the emission test law was never intended to require fee regulation, as evidenced by the fact that Utah County has a free market system for testing fees. Both said that they would work on legislation that would remove any language that establishes a cap on fees.

"The concept of market forces has always worked, and we should let it, if we can," Eastman said. "Then let the consumers choose where to get their cars tested."

The idea of allowing fees to be set by the free market system was first given life during a June 25 debate, although the council rejected an attempt a week later to allow stations to charge any fee they wanted until the Legislature changed the law. The council also voted against various other increases, despite claims from station owners that they would eventually go bankrupt at the current $25 fee.

That refusal to increase fees sparked a shouting match between Councilman Steve Harmsen, Buttars and some station owners prior to Tuesday's meeting. The yelling eventually drove both of the elected officials into the hallway outside council chambers, where their heated argument continued until a sheriff's deputy separated them.