A commission appointed by Pennsylvania’s governor has endorsed a plan to raise $2.7 billion annually for transportation by increasing fees, shifting programs to other departments and other cost savings.
The panel voted Monday to recommend increase vehicle registration fees, boost the wholesale tax on oil and free up transportation money by moving state police money from the Department of Transportation’s fund to the general fund, according to the report by the Governor’s Transportation Funding Advisory Commission.
“There were a couple of onerous things in there for trucking that we were able to eliminate,” said Jim Runk, executive director of the Pennsylvania Motor Truck Association and a member of the commission. “One was a 50% increase on all registration fees.”
Instead, the commission voted to increase driver and vehicle registration fees by about 35%, or the rise in inflation since the last increase in 1997, Runk said.
The 35% increase will still be costly for trucking if they’re approved, but not as bad as what was proposed, he said.
Those fees would bring in about $574 million annually by the time they are completely phased in, which would take five years under the plan.
