Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Finance topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Treasurer proposes folding $2.50 facility fee into county service fee, to rise to $5 to shore up DMV budget
Summary
Dickinson County's treasurer asked commissioners to move a $2.50 facility fee into the statewide county service fee and raise it to $5 starting July 1 to cover a roughly $39,000 shortfall in the motor vehicle office; commissioners requested a cost analysis before a final decision.
The Dickinson County treasurer told commissioners that a long-standing $2.50 facility fee will be folded into the statewide county service fee and proposed increasing that fee to $5 beginning July 1 to cover the motor vehicle office's operating costs.
The treasurer said the motor vehicle office currently shows about a $39,000 shortfall and that supplies and other expenses tied to vehicle registration have been paid from the county general fund for several years. "The fees that we receive should pay for those expenses," she said, arguing that shifting costs to a service fee would reduce pressure on property-tax-funded county general revenues.
Commissioners asked staff for a cost analysis showing how many vehicle registrations would be required to cover expenses and whether the change would be retroactive. The treasurer told the board she plans to implement the fee change for the fiscal-cycle timing she described, and a commissioner asked whether the change would be effective Jan. 1; staff discussion reflected both dates (July 1 as the start of the fee move, with questions about retroactivity raised during the meeting).
The treasurer said online payments and mail-in receipts will show the fee on all transactions statewide once the change is processed, and commissioners agreed to have staff run numbers and return with a fiscal analysis before a formal vote. No formal action was taken on the floor during the meeting.
The treasurer also recommended evaluating whether additional motor-vehicle-dedicated staff should be paid from the service fee rather than the treasurer's general personnel budget; she said roughly 60% of three employees' time is devoted to motor vehicle duties.
The commission did not vote on the proposed fee increase at the meeting; commissioners asked for the analysis and indicated they were open to a change that would reduce reliance on property taxes to subsidize motor vehicle operations.
Next steps: staff were asked to run a cost-analysis based on last year's registration counts and to return with a recommendation before finalizing any fee change.
