Susquehanna County approves $5 local vehicle-registration fee to help fund bridge repairs
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Summary
The Susquehanna County Commissioners approved Ordinance 2026-02 to add a $5 local fee to nonexempt vehicle registrations, aiming to raise local matching funds for multimodal bridge grants; commissioners and a public commenter discussed revenue uncertainty and bridge replacement costs.
Susquehanna County commissioners voted to adopt an ordinance implementing a $5 local fee on nonexempt vehicle registrations, a step officials said is intended to help pay local matching costs for bridge repairs and replacement.
Speaker 1, opening discussion of Item 6 and later elaborating during the meeting, said the county owns about 40 bridges in aging condition and needs additional local funds to meet the matching requirements for multimodal grants. "A small bridge is anywhere from $2,000,000 to $5,000,000," Speaker 1 said, noting the county had secured a multimodal grant of about $2.5 million for one bridge but still must provide a local match (cited in the meeting as roughly $659,000 for that project).
A member of the public, identified in the record as Speaker 3, asked for background on how long the fee has been discussed and how revenue estimates were developed. "Can you explain just a little bit about how all that came about?" Speaker 3 asked. County officials said similar local fees began appearing in other counties in 2015, and that revenue from the fee will vary depending on whether vehicle owners register for one or two years (two-year registrations reduce the annualized per-year yield for an individual from $5 to $2.50).
Speaker 2 confirmed the fee is tied administratively to Act 89, and noted the Department of Transportation collects the fee and remits proceeds to the county. Commissioners noted they are among the few counties in the state that had not yet implemented the fee and said the measure is intended to provide a funding source focused on people who use local bridges rather than a general property-tax increase.
The ordinance (recorded in the meeting as "Ordinance 20 26 0 2") was approved by voice vote. The meeting record does not show a roll-call tally with named votes; the clerk recorded the motion and that the motion carried by voice vote.
Next procedural steps noted in the discussion: the local fee must be enacted through PennDOT’s collection processes before it takes effect; commissioners said the department must process and implement the fee so the county can begin to receive remitted funds.
The commissioners did not provide a concise annual revenue estimate during the meeting; officials described revenue as uncertain and dependent on registration behavior and the number of affected vehicles.