Lorain County engineers ask commissioners to enact $5 vehicle registration fee to fund road and bridge projects

Sean (engineer’s office presenter) and Bob Klyber of the Lorain County Engineer’s Office told the Lorain County Board of Commissioners at a public hearing on April 22 that they are requesting enactment of a $5 permissive vehicle registration fee (referenced in the presentation as 450424) to pay for planning, construction and capital repairs on county roads and bridges.

The engineers estimate the fee would bring in a little more than $1.3 million and said that projection would close, or substantially reduce, a forecasted county capital shortfall that could reach about $1.1 million by 2028. “What exactly is that? That’s a $5 fee that we are requesting the commissioners enact,” Sean said during his presentation. He told commissioners the money would be used for capital projects, not salaries.

Why it matters: Lorain County officials said rising construction and maintenance costs and the need for local matching funds to secure federal grants make the additional revenue necessary to keep planned projects on schedule. The presenter noted Lorain County is the ninth-most populous county in Ohio and, among similarly sized…